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Black Mesa (formerly known as Black Mesa: Source. BM or BMS for short) is the 
Half-Life 2 total conversion that attempts to remaster the original 
Half-Life game. Utilising the 
Source engine to completely update and enhance the experience, Black Mesa throws you into the world that started the Half-Life continuum and introduced Dr. Gordon Freeman to the world as a gun-toting, bullet-dodging PhD. in theoretical physics.
Black Mesa was built and founded on the principle that 
Half-Life: Source did not do the original title enough credit, regardless of the true intentions laid out with the release of Half-Life: Source. Subsequently in November 2004, Black Mesa was founded and set out to reconstruct the original title, giving it the new environments, models, and abilities it deserved on the Source engine.
There are two distinct releases of this game:
- Black Mesa Beta
- Also known as the original mod release from 2012. This version of the game is available for free on ModDB, GameFront and many other websites. It only contains the unpolished Earthbound levels with old graphics and textures, and lots more bugs. This version runs off of the Source 2007 engine branch, and requires the Template:Game name installed to run.
- Black Mesa: Definitive Edition
- This is the current version available for purchase on Steam. It contains both the Earthbound and Xen levels, aswell as Multiplayer mode and Workshop support. This is a standalone product that runs on its own version of the Source 2013 Multiplayer engine branch, dubbed 'Xengine'.
The Black Mesa Team
Black Mesa has brought together some very talented, professional, and dedicated developers. The skillset is very noticeable, from level design to modeling to conceptual art to programming. With 30 members, the team behind Black Mesa is representative of a new age in third-party development. For a full-date team roster, personal portfolios, and job assignments, stop by the official Black Mesa website.
Features
The game features a branch of Source known as the "Black Mesa branch/Xengine". It is a custom hybrid of several current branches of Source and includes many features from each. The BM branch SDK has been released and available directly from the game's bin folder.
- Redesign and overhaul all chapters of the original Half-Life, including the Xen portion.
- Models now take advantage of increased polycount limits and normal mapping technology making deadly opponents and friendly coworkers appear more real.
- An all-new face creation system that allows each character to have a unique, artist-created face.
- A completely original soundtrack and music library bringing Half-Life's themes and feelings to life in the new sounds engine built into the Source Engine.
- AI that will hunt you by sight and sound.
- Normal, bump, and specular maps built into textures giving flat surfaces a new, more dynamic look.
- A multiplayer mode allowing for deathmatch and team deathmatch experience with the complete Half-Life 1/Black Mesa arsenal at your disposal.
- Steam Workshop implementation and full support for modders.
- Powerful Dynamic Lighting system.
Releases
Source 2007 mod. It can be downloaded from the (formerly) many mirrors available on the official website for free. This version has received no further updates. The original version can be download here: Part 1 Part 2 More mirrors
Source 2013.Media
Black Mesa's lobby shows exactly how much detail the mod team puts into their environments
Black Mesa introduces all new particle effects to further enhance the visual fidelity of the mod
The Face Creation System gives the impression of many faces that aren't expensive to render
