Not everybody agrees on how unhealthy the Xen ranges of Half-Life have been, however we’re all of 1 accord in saying that it’s the worst a part of an in any other case unimpeachable basic. That’s why the look ahead to the fan-made, Valve-approved Black Mesa to be completed has been so weird. All the most effective components of the sport are already there, now we’re simply ready for Xen – although in equity, this can be a redesigned version of the alien world that ought to be a bit extra nice to play.
With the vacations arising, now is an ideal time to recollect how Half-Life ruined Christmas.
But Xen received’t be completed in December, opposite to the builders’ previous estimates, which in flip was already a delay. “We are truly sorry for getting everyone’s hopes up and then delaying… again,” they are saying within the official update. “We worked very hard to make December, but we are not yet ready. As a team, we take FULL responsibility for that. We have an internal deadline we are confident in, and we will be getting everyone more details as we get closer to that date.”
While Xen received’t be playable in December, there’s nonetheless going to be an replace which is able to introduce lens flare, dynamic lights, four-way texture blends, picture primarily based ambient lighting, and improved efficiency on cascade shadow maps and godrays. I perceive roughly half of these phrases, however I can actually let you know that each one these fancy lighting results translate to a really nice-looking batch of screenshots.
The new graphical bells and whistles have been put collectively for Xen, however they’ll be publicly examined as a part of an replace to the principle recreation in December. Given the delays, I’d say this staff is really Valve’s second coming, however I don’t wish to dismiss Black Mesa’s high quality or the hassle put in to deliver Xen again in an improved kind. It seems to be to be definitely worth the wait.
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