Great, now this thread is starting to derail.
Hope everyone is happy with their unnecessary comments
that do not belong here in the first place.
So i’ll ask something on topic so this comment doesn’t derail it further:
I remember in the first Half Life there was only one transition back to the BM
in the Xen chapter. Could we expect more of these transitions?
I took this picture like an hour ago and according to outside of my residence, summer´s cancelled. So, like, what? Us Finns are not entitled to Xen updates like mighty JohnWorfin here? You should get Xen before everybody else just because it´s sunny where you live? C´mon man…
Ok, so the picture didn´t load but we got snow. Lots and lots of snow!
IIRC there wasn’t actually a transition back to the BMRF once you arrived in Xen. It’s been ages I played it, so I could be wrong, but I watched a playthrough of one of the original Xen that has been ported to BM as an workshop addition, and there weren’t any transtions back. Not saying it would be cool, tho.
In Blue Shift and OppFor however there were several transtions back to the Facility, I think.
There is no transitions back to Black Mesa once you arrive on Xen, you must think about Blue Shift or Opposing Force
They might be thinking of ‘Half-Life: Opposing Force’ or ‘Half-Life: Blue Shift’ which both had return trips from Xen to Black Mesa, especially Opposing Force.
Or they might be confusing the first Xen sequence in Anomalous Materials with the Xen chapter.
The Internet, she is a stern mistress.
Isn’t it obvious. They have taken all the ea money and split it 50 ways. Each developer has bought their own Caribbean Island and stocked it with exotic wildlife. That is the only reasonable answer, either that or they are busy at work on releasing new media because if they are just squashing bugs and finishing the game I am going to be sorely excited.
what if one of the developers is from the southern hemisphere and summer means december for everyone instead of june/july/aug/sept
So, Summer summer or Raminator summer?
There is one transition back to Black mesa if you mean the one in the Gman scene, but there’s no reason at that point in the story to head back to the facility, since you’re trying to find the nihilanth.
I for one have gotten less and less interested in the actual design of Xen as I’ve become more and more interested in what sort of engine improvements we might be seeing along with it. The new RAD compile parameters discussed way back when are neat, but they’ve also piqued my curiosity about what else may be to come.
I would love to see a L4D/Alien Swarm-style colour parameter on props - I could see myself getting a lot of use out of that with custom assets, and a lot of the vehicle models added in the STU update are L4D2 models built with that feature in mind. There could potentially be some use in applying that tech to xenian landscapes as well, to boost variation in the organic and rock props without creating whole new skins.
That said, even the new models they’ve already shown off in that one screenshot would make me a happy camper (mapper?) so I’m not going to hold it against them if they don’t implement that parameter.
EDIT: Just happened across the Content Creator Request thread, and it seems I already stated my desire to see it and got a confirmation that it was in the works at the time. It was supposed to come out in Content Update 3, but as is often the case for programming tasks, it must have gotten pushed back due to bugs. That or they forgot to put it in the fgd. Either way, hopeful it will be fixed by Xen’s release.
Yes, this please. This is something that Valve has pushed extensively in CS:GO as well, even adding a $notint parameter to VMTs that tells the game what parts of a model NOT to tint (given the model consists of multiple materials), as shown in this example.
I was hoping for the release to coincide with the Steam Summer Sale, but the Devs said they would start wetting our appetites before release
… with only a few days left to Steam Sale I’m starting to get sad 
I check for new content once a week but nothing… sigh
Okay, so what do you guys think of the two new screenshots the devs released?
First screenshot and second screenshot.
Personally, I absolutely love the lighting and colors. You can really tell why they were pushing for godrays.
The old Xen looked very bland with its fleshy monochrome colors, Black Mesa Xen looks a lot more colorful and alien to me.
I love the contrast between the light blue sky and the orange Xen crystals that’s going on. And the Xen fauna looks great as well.
I love the additions like the scaffolding and crates, it really pushes the fact that there was scientists working there, unlike in the original where you could only find bodies
Yeah, that’s a detail they took from the expansions I’m sure. Blue Shift Xen was considered the best Xen for many reasons, and this is one of them.
I did not expect this sudden update of Xen media! It’s beautiful!
Anyone notice the ocean-esque interior? Xen crystals, and that sky… wow! It looks so trippy and alien-y.
Spotted some new Xen assets coming out of that last update. Looks like structural elements for the scaffolding we’ve been seeing.
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.
