Hello everyone and welcome to the Operation Black Mesa September media release!
In this update we'd like to present a few changes that are going to take place in how we present our media in addition to showing the actual material. From this point on we'll attempt making more regular updates. The updates, or 'in-betweeners' can range from everything to a developer blog, a short podcast discussing the material we've released and where we plan to take it or what we have in store for the next media release. This is done as much for our own sake as it's done for the community as it helps us keep focused at our work while at the same time keeps those interested in the loop so to speak. We won't disclose exactly what will take place when we do post something (except for the MR of course), so you'll have to wait and see what shows up first.
That being said, we can move on to the actual point of this article, namely the media! Since last time we've focused our attention mostly at characters and weapons, which has given some nice results that we're very satisfied with. That does not mean we've been totally without progress within mapping, as you can see here:
First of all comes the concept art, so that you can get a taste of what is to come. A good few of these were done by one of our new talented 3D modelers, Liz, who is currently working with John Cleese's clone. If anybody knows someone good at mimicking his voice, give us a call. The second part of the concept art shots were made by our long lost russian concept artist Ferapod who has now rejoicefully reappeared and is back on the job! The third and final part has been done by Arturo, who is also very active in modelling, having made among other things the Voltigore and the spore launcher!
Next up we have weapons. Our Texture artist and compiler/shader magician-in-training Dopefish fixed, compiled and tweaked the shaders for these weapons, and we now have ten weapons brought into the mod. Either by animation rig and/or as world model. Note that the shaders aren't applied in these weapon shots, but I can assure you all that they look great! We've also made some great progress with our NPCs and prop models, and now that our models are making their way into the build at ever higher speeds, it's just a matter of time before we can start the gibbing. In the department of prop modelling we've been joined by two very talented modelers; Thechan and Serma3D who are currently busy filling our maps with highgrade items, some of which will interact very favourably when hit by gunfire.
The weapons that have been rigged are the following: Wrench, Knife, Glock, Desert Eagle, Shotgun, MP5, Grenade, Sniper Rifle, Snark And Spore launcher. Of those only the snark and Spore launcher haven't made it into the build so far (although I suspect its only a question of when its added) and the only weapon that doesn't have a world model of these is the Grenade. The Rigging and animation was done by a two people, some of the animations were done by MR.Brightside while the majority has been done by our two newest additions to the team; Sparkwire and Sn1pe.
Next up is mapping. These moodsetting shots are from the chapter "The Package" currently in progress by Bono_Estente, skybox and lighting by Spockjedi. Soon to be filled by menacing black ops!
We've also made some great progress in the area of particle effects, as we've been joined by an extremely skilled particle effects editor named Bolty, but you won't be seeing samples of his great work until we get that video done. Did I just write that out loud?
Last but certainly not least, the video showcases. These were produced by our new modelling lead Neil Dorrington aka Nrd2001, who has been working hard on pretty much every aspect of the project and the MR, helping out where needed in modelling as well as making his own models and working on the screenshots and wallpapers and learning animation on the side.
Operation Black Mesa Theme Final audio - Mod DB
Assasins audio - Operation Black Mesa Mod for Half-Life 2 - Mod DB
Foxtrot Uniform audio - Operation Black Mesa Mod for Half-Life 2 - Mod DB
Halls of Black Mesa audio - Mod DB
No Trams For Zombies audio - Operation Black Mesa Mod for Half-Life 2 - Mod DB
Here are also some wallpapers. They're available under the 'files' section of our website
Finally for recruitment. The positions we are currently looking to fill are Level Designers and Modelers (both character and prop modelling). We're always looking for people to work with, so if we've piqued your interest, drop by our forum and say hello.
We hope you liked what we had to show for now and that we spurred some interest from the development areas that we lack people in.
For now, this is Operation Black Mesa letting you know we're still here, DragonNOR out.
Hello everyone! Long time no read and write. I'd like to open this article by informing you all that the unconfirmed rumours that have been running wild these last few weeks are all true. Since the last MR we've done nothing but eat cake and play Opposing force multiplayer from dusk 'til dawn.
Gotcha ;)
And with that I welcome you all to the Operation Black Mesa May Media Release!
I know I've said this before, but each time its been true and it still is now. This is perhaps the biggest media release we've posted ever, and this time around you'll be seeing a lot more from the departments that were less represented in the previous MR, namely modelling and animation. Thats not to say that the other departments have been resting on their laurels since then, providing ample material to show otherwise.
Let's start of with the Concept art. Our concept artists have been busy making concepts of the map locations, critters and weapons that have taken solid form these months since last time.
Next up is modelling, our modellers have worked hard to bring the concepts drawn down to 3D and have been highly successful in doing so in my opinion.
Now on to the mapping. Our mappers have been equally hard at work, and the excellent map design combined with some creative compiling, custom textures and skybox adds up for some really interesting screenshot locations.
Nearing the end of our showcase comes the videos. We have three, yes thats right three (3), videos showcasing the new weapon models, our new player arms, new vehicles and some Race X critters. The last video is featuring the renowned dance star Vol Ti Gore as he performs what is known in proffesional circles as passive electric disco.
And finally, a bit off the bat, the Operation Black Mesa theme track from one of our newly arrived composers.
Videos & Audio - Operation Black Mesa Mod for Half-Life 2 - Mod DB
Videos & Audio - Operation Black Mesa Mod for Half-Life 2 - Mod DB
Last in this article I'd like to give a special mention to our new members. On modelling/Concept art/Animation we've been joined by ArturoPahua who's shown a very high promise with organic modelling (not to be confused by the animator who joined earlier and who's now left us because he didn't have time for the project). Thanez has stepped in as a texture artist/modeller/unwrapper and makes his presence known with his awesome work and Neil Dorrington AKA nrd2001 has joined the team as Modeler/texture artist/animator, breathing life into many of the works we display today.
On animation we've been joined by Mr.Brightside who is currently working life into the playerweapon movements, doing a great job making the movements look organic and natural, not to mention kickass cool. We've been joined by a illvm who is currently working on bringing the mods assets together and has made some great progress with the Nightvisiongoggles. We've also been graced by the appearance of two very talented composers, who are now working together to score the OpBM soundtrack, namely Rubes and Stygianwhite.In other news, SpockJedi, our Skybox and enviromental texture artist has been elevated to Co – Project lead, taking some of the strain of my busy schedule and inherent absence away and giving this project the drive it deserves.
This being said, even though we've gained a lot of new developers, we've also lost a few. Because of this we are still recruiting in all areas. We are in need of 'prop modellers', 'weapon modelers', 'character modelers', 'prop texture artists/skinners' , general texture artists, mappers, animators (both 1st person (player/weapons) and 3rd person (NPCs)), programmers and concept artists. Like I wrote, pretty much all areas. Except Voice acting. But every step forward we take is one step closer to start casting. So keep your eyes peeled for future updates.
Check the jobs listing on our homepage to browse the available positions.That is all from us for this time, see ya when we see ya :)
Hello everyone!
Since New Years is closing in fast, we figured wed round up the year with a summary of OBM this year; the events that have taken place, developers that have come and gone and progress made during the year.
The year of 2009 has been a great year for the project. Weve made major strides compared to that of our previous year, 2008, which was OBMs first active period after its revival November 2007. After our Christmas media release in 2008, we didnt post any news until April 2009. Many took this as a sign that the mod had died and gone into obscurity, but nothing could have been further from the truth. During that period we tidied up and took stock of our resources, reorganized the team in a way that allowed us to work more effectively, settled in on our new forum and recruited a lot of the developers who are still on the team to this date.
Among the developers who joined during this period were Ravage, Bono Estente and Skyms2663 who, together with our three original mappers with Lonefox at the helm completed the mapping department and for the first time in the mods history we had a dev. department that was actually full. The effect this had was made somewhat apparent already in the April Media release where half the media update consisted of screenshots concerning level design.
The other half was mainly concept art, which brings me to the second dev department that had all its positions filled. Ballsopt and later Ferapod applied with their awesome concept work and together with Amanieu in lead they constitute our current concept art department.
In the modeling section weve been joined by Rolpa, Aran Anderson and Nugget, building our modeling team to four, with ChumChum being the only modeler still sticking with us from 2008, and a major stride was made in late November when Aran was made Lead Modeler, filling a gap in the organization that hadnt been set since our old Lead in that department, Bugles, left. In addition we finally got a texture artist whose specialty is props and weapons, named Dopefish, making the process of getting things into the game a lot faster than original.
In programming we were graced with the presence of a good applicant (anyone working with mods KNOW how hard it is to come by Programmers), but he is currently on standby due to setting up a company of his own.
Two animators have joined our ranks, Arturo and ICEE, wholl be giving the mod the life it needs and three new positions have been created as weve been joined by a skybox texture artist, SpockJedi, a compiler, Joker, and finally a Community Manager whos been a longtime forumdweller turned dev, Ultama121.
The actual progress done through the year can be seen in the two media releases that weve done this year:
Opposing force 10 year Anniversary:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/operation-black-mesa/news/ten-years-of-opposing-force
April Media Release:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/operation-black-mesa/news/april-media-release2
Since our last media release we havent been idle either. Weve been making major strides in all aspects of the mod, but in particular the pace has been picked up in modeling now that we have a better sense of organization and a range of jobs set that we didnt have before. A new focus has been set in modeling, and that is to get the weapon models completed and into the hands of our animators so that they can be rigged and animated for some in-game action. Starting today, MODDB users will also be able to download our soundtrack from our MODDB profile.
With this in mind, were going to head into the new year with the intention of getting stuff in-game and start showing some actual in-game footage. Were working to get all the weapons ready and working (which should enable some fun with all the testing required) and to show them in action. If things go according to plan we should also be able to show a trailer in the coming year.
I want to thank all the developers who are currently working on the project, the community for supporting us, and Podcast 17 for mentioning us in their show. We venture into a new year, and were going full steam ahead!
Happy New Year from the OBM team!
It's that special time of the year again...Winter break you say? Yes that too, but I would like to point out that you can vote for your favorite mods at Moddb, so before you go out and party, We would love to get at least one of your votes!
This year has been an excellent year. We have worked hard and completed a lot more work than weve expected. A lot of great community modders have joined us in the past year and we appreciate their support. This year has also been the year of Half-Life: Opposing Force. I would like to mention again that it was Opposing Force's tenth anniversary on November 1st, 2009.
I believe, that this mod has a lot of potential. We're recreating a game that not just we love, but a game that an entire community has loved and cherished over the years. Our love is modding and we wont charge you a dime for it. Your vote will promote us and will help the community grow as a whole. It would also help us with our development, as with more publicity will come a whole set of keen developers wanting to help recreate this exciting experience with us.
So please head on down to Moddb and vote for us.
Merry Christmas.
Roadrunner
Good evening everyone and welcome to this autumns Operation Black Mesa Media release. Today is a special occasion in many respects as its the 10 year anniversary day for the original Opposing Force. Happy birthday Adrian Shephard! Since he's such a popular ten year old, at least within the dev team and the community, we decided it was time to take the gloves off and show a larger MR than usual, revealing some of our current progress. So, lets not linger any longer on the introductory phase, but instead move on to the real meat of this news article...Continued
Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Dwight T. Barnes stormed into the billet with the grace of an angry grizzly. Everybody knew a storm was coming. "Alright listen up you maggots, I... Where the hell is private Wilkins? And Anderson! God damnit we have a whole squad worth of Marines missing right fucking here! I want answers or I swear to god you'll be chipping paint with toothpicks for the rest of your military service! Now what happened to those Marines?"... Continued
It's been a long time since we updated the community with media but we've been hard at work and are ready to show some more!
Since last time around, several new members have joined the development team. I'm pleased to announce that our mapping team is now almost full with one final spot pending. Our cadre of talented mappers have been hard at work to recreate the enviroments of Black Mesa in the Orange box engine and we've got no less than four chapters to show... Continued
