Operation: Ask Me Anything (Part 2)

Greetings everyone!

It’s time to answer some more questions, isn´t it? Think of this as a small appetizer before we serve you the main course a bit later.

Just like in Part 1 of our AMA update, we’re also including a bit of media. This time, the spotlight goes to Brandon´s “Welcome to Black Mesa”, and as a little bonus, we´re showing a glimpse of the deferred fog system Lander has been experimenting with a lot recently.

We’re also pleased to see how positively the community reacted to our previous update. We´ve received a number of applications from people eager to join the team and help us push the project toward the finish line. The team is growing steadily, which is always a good sign. We´re still looking for reinforcements in several departments, so if you´re in search of a project to contribute to, Operation: Black Mesa might be the right fit for you. Feel free to check our current openings. And if the position you´re interested in isn’t listed, don’t worry — if you´re talented, we will always consider you.

Enough chit‑chat — lets get to your questions. And stay tuned for Part 3, which will include a bit more media than the first two parts.

Questions and Answers:

• CluelessAmerican asked: With what happened 2 years ago, did the game development recover?

• Brandon answers: Development slowed down for a short time due to the loss of a few valuable members, but we've also gained some new talented members since then as well. Ups and downs are nothing new to the project, so we have carried on working as usual. We can always use more members to help speed up development and fill key roles. So if you'd like to spread the word or apply yourself, you can join our Tripmine Studios Discord server for application instructions.

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• MyGamepedia asked: Does displacer cannon still use pre placed teleport points or use (or will use) a different way to determine the teleportation point to xen/our world ?

• Brandon answers: After experimenting with various methods of displacer teleportation, we are currently settled on pre-designated teleport points.

  We aim to expand the teleport locations, both in number and in function, to make it more useful and more fun.

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• Arizaro asked: Will the shock troopers use words to communicate like in the original game?

• Brandon answers: Absolutely! Small details like this are very important to the DNA of Half-Life games.

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• Barbedwireman asked: Is there a current set price it'll be?

• Antonín answers: It´s too early to talk about this. As for the commercial release, we still have few things to resolve, including agreements with some former members. If we release commercially, we will make sure the price tag will be very friendly. In the end, this is still fan-made project that we make mainly out of passion.

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• KapitanSWAT asked: Have you considered giving the Marines/HECU a different camo pattern?

• Brandon answers: We have experimented with different camo patterns throughout development and are currently aiming for the common HECU types to use a camo pattern that is faithful to the original game.

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• RomRojal274 asked: Will the Assassins/Black Ops use invisibility in harder difficulties

• Brandon answers: Yes. Gameplay details like this are seen among a variety of enemies in the original game and will make a return in OBM.

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• CaptainofPie asked: will the soundtrack be released in LOSSLESS, 24-BIT 48KHZ QUALITY????

• Antonín answers: Yes, that´s the plan :).

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• Amorkat96 asked: Will achievements be added to the mod/game?

• Antonín answers: Yes! Achievements are something we definitely want to include. We already have some ideas we´re excited about.

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• AndrewS05 asked: Will Barney be voiced or silent?

  
  

  • Antonín answers: Barney will not speak in Guard Duty

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• Agent Braise asked: Are y'all having fun with development?

  • Antonín answers: It´s tough. But even though all the downs, it´s hell of a ride that I thouroughtly enjoy. Some less happy moments are there, but that´s life. I´ve been with Operation: Black Mesa for most of the time and seeing it shaping recently made me thought what it will do to my life when we finish it. It will definitely leave a big empty space in my heart.

  
  

  • lander answers: we all have up's and down's sometimes. But as we speak we are making great progres and we have a lot of fun with playtesting and trying stuff out.

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• CrusaderTheFirst asked: I've one simple question. Will the shotgun's alt fire gib enemies like black mesa?

• Antonín answers: It was a bit dissapointed that gib system has been significantly simplified in the Half-Life 2. We want to make the game more gore-ey

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• Mr.Pink asked: will there be a dopefish reference?

• Lander answers: it's not there but maybe in the end.

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• Biker from miami asked: Has black mesa blue shift caused any setbacks or delays, and has it inspired/de-inspired your guys progress on GD?🤔

• Antonín answers: No, we have our vision for Guard Duty and that has not changed so far. A lot is already done for this project and we do not plan, nor want to change it at this point

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• Spoochie Bogel asked: Will there be headcrab jambalaya

• Antonín answers: To find out, you might want to inspect every microwave you come across in Operation Black Mesa.

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• MyGamepedia asked: Will the team change the application requirements for people who want to join the team to make the requirements more accessible to a larger range of candidates ?

• Antonín answers: The requirements themselves won’t change, as they’re always tied to the needs of the project.

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• CobaltTS asked: How cohesive is the visual stype of OPBM with BM and BMBS?

• Lander answers: We all have the original game as a reference. So a lot of textures/models have a bit of the same vibe/style. But we try to aim to make our own half life world with our own accents.

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• Chief BLUE! asked: Can we expect the return of the kamikaze penguins?

• Antonín answers:  I was hoping someone would ask! Yes, definitely <3

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• Ermzsicle asked: have you seen my coffee cup?

• Antonín answers:  It was last seen in Level 3 Dormitories by the swimming pool.

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• RomRojal274 asked: This is just for the sake of curiosity, will there be female grunts or guards (I probably already know the answer, but I figured I should ask, lest my brain keep bugging me about it)

• Antonín answers: There were discussions about it in the past, but we currently have no plans to include female variants of HECU grunts or security guards.

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• Atomic Franz asked: Art direction of Xen is more close to Alyx or more close to HL1?

• Antonín answers: Xen was only prototyped, graphics pass is yet to come. We cannot give you definitive answer, but our guess is a mix of our vision/ Half-Life: Alyx, and who knows, maybe even probably Half-Life 3 :)

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• RomRojal274 asked: Will the Enginner and Medic stick to their usual weapons or be given something stronger (I couldn't come up with a 3rd one and this one was the one I came up with)

• Antonín answers: For now, they use the weapons you already know from the original game. Giving them something more powerful — or at least the ability to pick up different weapons throughout the journey — is still on the table. This may change during the playtesting phase, depending on how the gameplay evolves.

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• Phatkg191 asked: Will we ever get a functional HEV suit for the player even though the game has both protagonist doesn't wear HEV suit for any point during the game

• Antonín answers: No, this kind of addition doesn’t align with the original lore, and we don’t intend to alter it. We’ll be keeping the PCV vest for Operation Black Mesa and the standard security vest for Guard Duty.

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• MyGamepedia asked: Do you plan to update and possibly monetize multiplayer ?

• Antonín answers: Absolutely NOT.

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• KK asked: Are you sure that running the game will not cause my computer to start a resonance cascade?

• Antonín answers: There was a time when they cared nothing for your computer. But… I am not one to squander my investments. And I remain confident that your hardware is worth far more than a simple… Resonance cascade. See it safely through to the release of Operation: Black Mesa. [breathing]

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• MyGamepedia asked: The Black Mesa HECU creator created a post with a lot of "taken out of context" information, there is also information related to Tripmine Studios. If any of you familiar with the post, is anything true about Tripmine Studios from it?

• Antonín answers: This matter involves individuals who are no longer with Tripmine Studios. We’re aware of the situation and regret that such disputes have emerged within the Half‑Life community.

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• Atomic Franz asked: Is mayo considered an instrument?

• Antonín answers: Based on our internal tests performed in the test chamber, we can confidently confirm that mayo still isn’t an instrument.

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• A. Shephard🤘Ⓤ¹⁹²⁴ asked: Black ops will have more weapons? for example shotgun and m249, and will throw flashbangs similar of the mod field intensity?

  
  

  • Antonín answers: We plan to stick with their original loadout.

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• David- asked: Will you guys somehow implement Shephard's Journal into OBM? It would be really cool to have it in the game in any way or form since it really adds a lot of backstory and interesting info

• Antonín answers: Although it sounds like a nice feature to have, we do not have plans to implement it.

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• SmileyMaguire asked: Do the Hecu/Blackops have any unique ai or are they basically just reskinned combine soldiers?

• Antonín answers: This is still a task that is on our roadmap, but we do want to use different and more advanced AI.

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• Bad Opinions Squid #FixTF2 asked: Your Winterfest 2024 article showed off a screenshot that featured Alien Grunts in Foxtrot Uniform; a very late-game chapter that was well after Xenians had been phased out in the original game. Will O:BM be putting a heavier focus on the two different alien factions fighting each other?

• Antonín answers: Don´t take is as granted, but we do want to come up with situations where these two factions fight against each other. Hopefuly it will make it to the final cut :).

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• BrrrtMachine69 🇬🇧: Of course, we have the Black Ops using the Apache in the original game, but at least for differentiation from the HECU Apaches, could we possibly see the MH-60L DAP? It does seem to be a nice Black Ops type attack helo, or will it be literally a reskinned Apache? I guess the loadout could be the side-mounted miniguns and rockets on the stub wings.

• Antonín answers: This is one of those "nice to have" features we would like to have. In the end, this will depend on our resources. There are higher priority tasks ahead of us, and this is something we would address only in the very final stages of the development.

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• l300.7 asked: Will we hear from him again during the course of the adventure?

• Antonín answers: Fellow HECU comrades and the story surrounding them are among the elements we believe deserve much more attention. However, we’re not going to spoil anything specific.

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• l300.7 asked: Will we witness a conflict between the HECU and the regular soldiers as they question whether to continue with the orders to kill all witnesses after discovering that the Black Ops are killing their comrades? I always believed that the first to arrive at Black Mesa were regular soldiers with standard armor, and later the HECU would arrive, which is the Elite division since they wear advanced armor called the PCV.

• Antonín answers: The relationship between the HECU, regular military forces, and the Black Ops is a complex part of the Half‑Life universe, and it naturally raises a lot of interesting questions. What we can say is that internal conflict, conflicting orders, and shifting loyalties are all themes that we want to expand upon.

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• KRUŽNOTOČNIK asked: what is each team member's favorite color?

• Antonín answers: For some reason, I get attracted with blue color. After doing extensive research, I found out it´s Egyptian Blue (227, 78, 36) Lander answers: I like a type of a green color but it doesn't have an English translation. The direct translation from Dutch is: apple blue sea green.

• Jancias answers: To put that one short probably just some kinda purple and yellow

• Harry answers: Oh, if I had to answer (he had to answer, by the way), it would be blue: somewhere between the momentary perfection of an undisturbed lagoon, and the water flowing from a dying glacier, please. Ideally both mixing together. So truly, my favourite colour is efemwrality* and impossibility.

• Telvy answers: off-white, the same kind you'd see on marble statues.

• Kaon answers: Blue.

• Ted answers: f74843 and 08b7bc. And Orange

• Tyler answers: The brilliant orange of a sunset or the warm glow of a fire.

• Marius answers: Mine used to be green, but then I became addicted to this stuff... So I guess it's light blue now.

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• gamerguy asked: Who voices otis, the scientists, security guards and HECU?

  • Antonín answers: Not all characters have been fully cast yet. Otis is voiced by Jacob “SpaccyVA” and Michael “Miguelitoar” Cole. Since Otis appears multiple times throughout both Operation: Black Mesa and Guard Duty, we treat him as an archetype character — which is why two voice actors will be giving their own take on him.

    It’s also worth noting that Michael will be voicing the G‑Man.

    Bovin “Professional Mr. Phann” Lee Phann will be stepping into the role of a HECU soldier (You may have heard him in some games, such as Trepang2). The voice acting department is something we’re currently shifting more of our focus toward, so you can expect more solid information in one of our future updates.