Wasn't this supposed to be free?

[THEOTHERJESTER]

Reading a lot of comments written by really annoyed people saying this was supposed to be free. I do remember seeing something about this being a free game as long as we had Steam but that was ages ago. There are a couple of threads that I'm assuming have asked the same sort of thing but are locked (most of which won't open for me).

Anyone have any information?

EDIT: Managed to get onto a greyed out locked thread. Please devs if you read this don't lock it, I'm just trying to get the facts here.

[Harry101UK]

Valve gave them the go-ahead to sell the game on Steam in 2013. They've been polishing it up since then, and building their own version of the Source engine to suit their needs. You can still get the mod free from their website.

[Bͥatͣmͫan]

yup but like everyone else Money money money

[Yskar]

Yes, SUPOSED:
http://i.imgur.com/Ge2YEKz.png

Their promisses, only promisses...

[Exanthos]

Well then there'd be no reason to buy the origional HL1. I always knew it was too good to be true.

[Hubi]

I can understand your frustration. Selling was not a decision that was made lightly. Please visit our community forums, ideally, this dated thread to understand why we went retail: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/index.php/Thread/17088-Happy-Birthday-Half-life/

Hopefully, this can shed some insight.

[TopBadger]

Originally posted by Yskar:

Yes, SUPOSED:
http://i.imgur.com/Ge2YEKz.png

Their promisses, only promisses... :RogueMoneybags::RogueMoneybags::RogueMoneybags::bandit:

The mod is still free so what's your point?

[Construct]

Originally posted by BMS | Hubicorn:

I can understand your frustration. Selling was not a decision that was made lightly. Please visit our community forums, ideally, this dated thread to understand why we went retail: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/index.php/Thread/17088-Happy-Birthday-Half-life/

Hopefully, this can shed some insight.

Do you still have plans to release an updated free version?

[Squire Tybalt]

Originally posted by BMS | Hubicorn:

I can understand your frustration. Selling was not a decision that was made lightly. Please visit our community forums, ideally, this dated thread to understand why we went retail: http://forums.blackmesasource.com/index.php/Thread/17088-Happy-Birthday-Half-life/

Hopefully, this can shed some insight.

Honestly I would gladly pay for the game, it was incredible when i last played the free version. It's just kind of weird to have to buy it now when it was free before.

[THEOTHERJESTER]

Originally posted by Filthy Swine:

Honestly I would gladly pay for the game, it was incredible when i last played the free version. It's just kind of weird to have to buy it now when it was free before.

I think that is what has everyone so mad.

[BDNeon]

No, the thing that has everyone so mad is the memory of the Skyrim workshop. People are still scared and freaked out over that fiasco, but this is different. I just hope the people who are upset the mod is going retail can calm down enough to look at the situation and see that. Everyone is so freaked out by that massive and horrible screw up that they're not even noticing this mod is just going retail the same way so many other mods have, just look how few people complained when the Stanley Parable released just a year ago or so. It's more or less the same situation, it was a Source engine mod on a very early iteration of the Source Engine 4 years ago, modest enough relying mostly on its bold deconstruction of narrative and gaming tropes rather then its technical qualities, people love it, the developer goes quiet for a few years then releases a MUCH overhauled new version via greenlight, pretty much everyone was cool with it, and he ALSO left his original mod available for anyone who wished to play it. The key difference is that it released BEFORE what happened a week ago. WorkshopGate scarred PC gamers and left them jumping at shadows whenever they see a dollar sign on anything. Given time, people will settle down and accept this release for what it is, a natural step in the process of a mod development studio reaching the next level.

[Bryo]

Originally posted by THEOTHERJESTER:

Originally posted by Filthy Swine:

Honestly I would gladly pay for the game, it was incredible when i last played the free version. It's just kind of weird to have to buy it now when it was free before.

I think that is what has everyone so mad.

But why? The free version still exists.

[t850terminator]

Originally posted by BDNeon:

No, the thing that has everyone so mad is the memory of the Skyrim workshop. People are still scared and freaked out over that fiasco, but this is different. I just hope the people who are upset the mod is going retail can calm down enough to look at the situation and see that. Everyone is so freaked out by that massive and horrible screw up that they're not even noticing this mod is just going retail the same way so many other mods have, just look how few people complained when the Stanley Parable released just a year ago or so. It's more or less the same situation, it was a Source engine mod on a very early iteration of the Source Engine 4 years ago, modest enough relying mostly on its bold deconstruction of narrative and gaming tropes rather then its technical qualities, people love it, the developer goes quiet for a few years then releases a MUCH overhauled new version via greenlight, pretty much everyone was cool with it, and he ALSO left his original mod available for anyone who wished to play it. The key difference is that it released BEFORE what happened a week ago. WorkshopGate scarred PC gamers and left them jumping at shadows whenever they see a dollar sign on anything. Given time, people will settle down and accept this release for what it is, a natural step in the process of a mod development studio reaching the next level.

Except this is completely different, what Black Mesa is doing has been the standard since the beginning. A standalone game, not a mod.
Plus this is HL2 & Source Engine, unlike Skyrim, total conversions are the bread & butter of the modding community.