Dresden on 16/9/2012 at 23:39
I didn't have any problem with Blast Pit. It was the same as the original. I just chucked a grenade in the opposite direction and ran for it.
ZylonBane on 17/9/2012 at 03:11
Quote Posted by Dresden
I didn't have any problem with Blast Pit. It was the same as the original.
No, it really isn't. Ladders aren't nearly as safe as they used to be, the tentacles can now target you even when you're crouch-walking, it's no longer possible to temporarily stun them by tossing a grenade into their pit, and one or more of them will often ignore explosion sounds. The only saving grace is that their attacks are no longer insta-kill.
Malleus on 17/9/2012 at 06:11
Quote Posted by Yakoob
"ah, I'm glad that over ten years later the ladders are still fucking impossible to get off of. At least BM is paying tribute to the original in that way."
Don't remember how it was in the original, but in BM you can press E to get off of ladders. Once I realized that they became much less annoying.
ZylonBane on 17/9/2012 at 14:13
Anyone else finding that the music volume setting has absolutely no effect on music volume?
henke on 17/9/2012 at 15:02
Yeah I found that too. It's so damn high by default that it's sometimes hard to hear if you're being shot at during the more actiony parts. I turned it down to 50% but it changed nothing.
Vivian on 17/9/2012 at 15:48
Just finished it. Its a seriously impressive mod, and a lot of fun to play - atmospheric, exciting, (mostly) tightly paced and extremely pretty for the most part. Definitely highly recommended. In terms of a HL remake though, there are a few issues - a lot of what I remember to be the most mental fights have either been screwed up a little (the bit where you are fighting a bunch of dudes from a storm drain I remember in HL as being a brilliant opportunity for traps, hit-and-run and grenade shelling, but it doesn't quite work in BMS), or are just missing (On a Rail and Surface Tension don't seem half as action-packed as I remember them). As a consequence, the sense of the situation rapidly degrading from containment into a full-blown war (that the HECU are losing) doesn't really come across that well. Plus,
the bit where you get the snarks - wtf? They only work on people or zombies, and the first thing you meet after getting a snark pod is a gargantua. I threw one at it anyway, just before it stepped on my head.
I suspect (or hope) there might be a few bits still getting polished up for those two chapters, as a few really big xeno vs human battles is kind of all that's missing. Anyway, in summary - brilliant mod, well worth playing, HL is still better (even if it does now look like shoe-box dolls doing a C3PO impression), but mainly because they didn't nail the sense of constant escalation and chaos as well as the original. Mind you, not much does except HL2.
Oh yeah and the music blows (generic metal-ish 'EPIC' drudge for the most part). Oh well.
ZylonBane on 17/9/2012 at 17:59
While playing through, it's occurred to me multiple times that these guys don't have even early Valve's sense of creating memorable spaces. Even when set piece locations are faithfully recreated, they feel like they've been "flattened" into a continuous flow of combat with few breaks.
For example, there's a spot in Office Complex where you come across a cafeteria massacre scene. (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OyOPgXaavE) Brief music kicks in as you behold the bodies strew everywhere and a few zombies feeding on the dead, ignoring you. You enter the cafeteria, and headcrabs break through the ceiling, ambushing you. Then after you clear out all that mess, you have to head into a long, pitch-black hallway to reach the next section.
In Black Mesa? There's a cafeteria. Zombies attack you immediately. On to the next section!
henke on 17/9/2012 at 18:34
Are you saying it would've been more memorable if it'd been exacly like in the original? Personally, I'm liking a lot of the level design. Like the Silo where the tentacle-arm-boss is, and the different sections it branches off to, and the underground tram-rails with all the stations along the way. And stuff like...
Inline Image:
http://imageshack.us/a/img706/7080/2012091600069.jpgThis work station. Old computer, coffee mug, chemicals under the desk. It looks lived-in, and it brings to mind the phrase "It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it".
Inline Image:
http://imageshack.us/a/img821/4263/2012091700007.jpgI really liked the whole trek along the cliff edge, the view is epic, and gets even more so when a facility in the distance is bombed and black smoke stretches across the horizon. But I think my favourite part of the level was decending down this building. One misstep and you could be falling down to the bottom, it's almost enough to give you vertigo.
Inline Image:
http://imageshack.us/a/img684/9431/2012091600072.jpgA lot of the lighting is very well done.
Inline Image:
http://imageshack.us/a/img690/4007/2012091600062g.jpgZylonBane on 17/9/2012 at 18:54
Quote Posted by henke
Are you saying it would've been more memorable if it'd been exacly like in the original?
There is not enough facepalm in the world.
SubJeff on 17/9/2012 at 18:57
I think the issue is that Valve had the pacing so right that speeding it up doesn't give you time to take it all in. They should have eased off if anything.
