FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

[Mc.Sug4r]

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: What is Operation Black Mesa / Guard Duty?

A: Operation: Black Mesa / Guard Duty is a Source Engine licensed Indie game that aims to re-imagine the Half-Life expansion packs Opposing Force (Operation: Black Mesa) and Blue Shift (Guard Duty).

__________________________________________________________

Q: What will I need to launch OBM / GD? How much will it cost?

A: A Steam account is required in order to play.

As of this time we have not yet decided the cost of a potential commercial release on Steam.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Are you still working on your projects?

A: Yes, we are working very hard!

It's important to remember that we are a very small indie team, composed of hobbyists who do this all in their spare time, with a budget of $0, all while working full-time jobs (or while taking classes in school), while trying to maintain some sort of family/social life.

You can always talk to us on Discord, check up on our ModDB page, Forums, Facebook, or Twitter. In short, unless there is an official announcement that we are dead, then the projects are still ongoing.

__________________________________________________________

Q: When will you release another media update? What is the best way to get notified of an update?

A: We do not have a set schedule for media releases.

The best way to get notified each time we post an update is to follow us on twitter, Youtube, and/or our Discord server which you can join by clicking here.[discord.com]

__________________________________________________________

Q: How much of your project is done? How about a release date?

A: We cannot estimate the exact percentage of completion, nor an approximate release date.

Until we are 100% sure we can commit to a release date, we will not announce one.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will you include the training missions in your games?

A: Yes, we will include Boot Camp (OBM) and Hazard Course (GD).

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will OBM and GD release together?

A: OBM and GD will be released as a single product.

Players will be able to access OBM or GD campaigns via the main menu. Operation: Black Mesa will be the working title.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will you release a demo, beta, or Early Access?

A: We have no plans at this time for a demo, beta, or Early Access.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Is this a mod of BM? With Black Mesa released, will you use their assets? Will the games be consistent? Will Xen in OBM/GD look the same as BM Xen?

A: We are not, and have never been, a mod for Black Mesa. Likewise, we do not use or run on the same engine version as Black Mesa.

No, we won't be using Black Mesa content in any shape or form for many reasons.
Coordinating the use of shared assets would be extremely complex both legally, logistically, and artistically.

Xen will most likely be different. We are a totally different team, with different skills, different assets, different artistic preferences, etc. In the end, you'll just need to wait and see.

We are fans of Black Mesa, and definitely take inspiration from their hard work in various ways. That being said, Tripmine Studios is in no way affiliated with Crowbar Collective.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will you include both the Mp5 and M4a1? Beretta?

A: The Mp5 will be the default, with the M4a1 being an optional replacement via the options menu.

The Beretta as an optional replacement for the Glock is a ton of unnecessary work, so although there is a tiny chance it might make it into the game, you should definitely not expect it.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will you include Half-Life 1 cut Beta content?

A: No. We are a very small team and are already handling a huge workload. Adding extra unnecessary work onto our projects would only delay the projects even longer.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will there be co-op? Multiplayer? What about Half-Life Decay?

A: No, co-op is not currently planned.

We do have plans to develop multiplayer game modes similar to those found in the original. With that being said Singleplayer is our primary development focus.

We are not developing a remake of Half-Life: Decay, nor do we have plans to ever do so.

__________________________________________________________

Q: I would like to join your team!

A: We are currently looking for talented, experienced, professional teammates.

Check the "Application guidelines" thread on this forum for more details. Click here to go there now!

__________________________________________________________

Q: What languages are planned for the release?

A: We don´t have a definitive list of available translations of the game at the moment, but you can definitely expect more than only English. That being said, we will engage with our community in order to get the game translated into as many languages as possible.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will there be Steam Workshop Support? What about achievements?

A: Both are planned, yes.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will the project ever convert to the Source 2 Engine?

A: That is extremely unlikely.

Regardless of HL:A being released, Valve has still not released a full suite of all the dev tools that would be required to efficiently make a full game within the engine.
On top of that, we would need a fully automated way to convert all of our assets and maps, or risk spending an immense amount of time just for the conversion process alone; and that's not even counting code issues.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Will the player - Adrian or Barney - ever speak?

A: We do not plan to have Adrian speak.

It's possible we might have the option for Barney to speak, but we are still undecided at this time.

__________________________________________________________

Q: Are the old music tracks for OBM still being used?

A: The years-old music for the project that is commonly found on YouTube is mostly, if not all, copyrighted.

Since the game is now a commercial project, we do not have the rights to use those tracks. Our composer is creating a new original score for our game.

__________________________________________________________

Q: History of the Project: Part 1 - How old is the project?

A: This project started development officially in 2012 when a few of the remaining devs from Guard Duty and the previous OBM project joined together to form Tripmine Studios.

Less than 1% of the (already) very few assets that the previous OBM project had created were carried over to the new team.

Development was productive, but slow, until around 2015 when our team expanded and filled some critical dev roles that helped boost progress significantly.

__________________________________________________________


Q: History of the Project: Part 2 - What is the "previous OBM project" mentioned in Part 1?

A: There have been 3 separate and independent teams/projects that have used the title "Operation: Black Mesa".

When the 1st OBM project died, a completely different team, with none of the assets or work from the 1st project, started a new mod with the same title and goal.

After the 2nd project died, the 3rd and final project (that eventually merged with GD) was formed and had a couple devs and very few assets carry over with them this time.

Despite being completely different teams/projects, it was decided (for better or worse) that the new projects would use the same title as the previous ones that had died.

The OBM moddb account from the previous project was also used for the latest OBM project after the original devs were contacted and allowed us to use it.

The idea behind using the same name and moddb account (for better or worse) was to help maintain public awareness because "Operation: Black Mesa" was already a known title and would hopefully keep attracting members for the new project.

There in lays where most of the confusion comes from regarding OBM.

Luckily Guard Duty does not suffer from the same confusion because we chose a different name than the other two Blue Shift recreations that had died before us

[Tighty-Whitey]

Good job, perhaps it will be better than mess that Black Mesa turned out to be.

[Headcrab]

Its been years now and I'm still waiting. Hope you guys release this soon! <3

[[ λlt ]]

Thanks for your q/a

[Lil C]-[ew C]-[ew is ☂д☂]

Will we be able to tick as an optional choice to which campaign or remaster game will be installed? Because damn...44 gb is quite big. Either I have free 60 gb space to install this in the future.

[It'sDaftBby]

Take as much time as ya'll want. It'll be well worth the wait as long as nobody suffers during production!

[**Neorz Tormeno ♿︎☢]

I love modding community of PC.

[Helldiver-B312]

Originally posted by Tighty-Whitey:

Good job, perhaps it will be better than mess that Black Mesa turned out to be.

Wdym?

[Ariel (GB)]

is this dead?

[Mc.Sug4r]

Nope

[Ariel (GB)]

Is there a demo?

[Biomechannibal]

Can't believe you guys went with 'HECU Collective' as Crowbar's counterpart. It should have been 'Pipewrench Productions'.

[VIDEOS SALADOS]

may i ask how it is easier to implement the m4a1 and not the beretta as an optional gun

[Kuobano]

This comment will watch as this game becomes #1 mod!

[ℒ]

We will have a game in Brazilian Portuguese pt-br
I really liked the game Black Mesa and I was really impressed by the graphics and story of the game.
I wonder if there will be subtitles in Brazilian Portuguese.

I'm Brazilian
Thank you!

[ℒ]

Originally posted by Mc.Sug4r:

Nope

We will have a game in Brazilian Portuguese pt-br