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Black Mesa >  Workshop > HECU Collective's Workshop > Black Mesa: Blue Shift > Discussions
Black Mesa: Blue Shift
Description Discussions118 Comments3867 Change Notes
Terradyn Nov 29, 2024 @ 9:57am
Xen is terrible, annoying and irritating
Xen was annoying and irritating AF. I dont know why game designer has this weird fetish in putting group of enemies jumping on you(this is sign of lame game design and lack of creativity). Xen is stressful, chaotic(in many areas I just did not know what to do and I had to check YT) and mess in general. I liked your Blue Shift till now. Constant lack of ammo in critical areas mainly at the end of chapter 5th where you are forced to use specific weapon because nazi regime is back? Why you can't let player decide what weapon he or she want to use like in the original Blue Shift. Games SHOULD BE FUN, not stressful AF. If I would want stress I will stay in the work longer. I don't even know at this time if I will gonna play last chapter and God. How many times I was blocked by terrain in fights. There is also too many lights and you just dont see, because levitating heads are shooting ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of these orange balls, Xen warriors and Vortigons can jump to side in the same Fcking moment I press fire which is fcking brilliant idea(sarcasm). Also Locking areas and you cant go back more than 100 meters is also VERY BAD IDEA.I don't know who had this stupid idea and who allowed it, but guys. You should play original Half Life games again and ask yourself if level of stress and chaos in your mod is equal to original game. Probably in the name of philosophy if you can't make it better, then at least we can fck it up this Xen is pretty fcked up. Maybe you should return back on the ground with both feet. Not everything must be different and harder and annoying. Black Mesa was made brilliant. It was Half Llife, but different, but Your mod is very different than original game and there are no hints what to do in some areas(mainly on Xen).

Xen part 3/10 because it looks beautiful, but just thanks to Crowbar developers which set new standard for Xen(I love Black Mesa Xen). Everything else is just bad. I will stay with the original Blue Shift, because it's relaxing to play. Not like this Xen mess.

Sorry...
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Showing 1-15 of 18 comments
that's what she said Dec 6, 2024 @ 12:03pm 
Yeah, it desperately needs balancing pass and redesigned platforming. They didn't even bothered to put autosaves where they should be half the time. I mean it commits all of the basic level design crimes and delivers nothing fun. Overall the mod is bloated and has a ton design and pacing issues, but Xen is like all of the issues and none of the good stuff, it isn't even memorable due to how bloated it is. Xen's just boring at best. And mostly annoying. Which is very dissapointing cause I really looked forward to this chapter.
#1
Chicken Jockey Dec 25, 2024 @ 5:56am 
Originally posted by Terradyn:
Xen was annoying and irritating AF. I dont know why game designer has this weird fetish in putting group of enemies jumping on you(this is sign of lame game design and lack of creativity). Xen is stressful, chaotic(in many areas I just did not know what to do and I had to check YT) and mess in general. I liked your Blue Shift till now. Constant lack of ammo in critical areas mainly at the end of chapter 5th where you are forced to use specific weapon because nazi regime is back? Why you can't let player decide what weapon he or she want to use like in the original Blue Shift. Games SHOULD BE FUN, not stressful AF. If I would want stress I will stay in the work longer. I don't even know at this time if I will gonna play last chapter and God. How many times I was blocked by terrain in fights. There is also too many lights and you just dont see, because levitating heads are shooting ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of these orange balls, Xen warriors and Vortigons can jump to side in the same ♥♥♥♥♥♥ moment I press fire which is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ brilliant idea(sarcasm). Also Locking areas and you cant go back more than 100 meters is also VERY BAD IDEA.I don't know who had this stupid idea and who allowed it, but guys. You should play original Half Life games again and ask yourself if level of stress and chaos in your mod is equal to original game. Probably in the name of philosophy if you can't make it better, then at least we can ♥♥♥ it up this Xen is pretty ♥♥♥♥♥ up. Maybe you should return back on the ground with both feet. Not everything must be different and harder and annoying. Black Mesa was made brilliant. It was Half Llife, but different, but Your mod is very different than original game and there are no hints what to do in some areas(mainly on Xen).

Xen part 3/10 because it looks beautiful, but just thanks to Crowbar developers which set new standard for Xen(I love Black Mesa Xen). Everything else is just bad. I will stay with the original Blue Shift, because it's relaxing to play. Not like this Xen mess.

Sorry...
then git gud-
#2
spice_ Dec 26, 2024 @ 1:44am 
I agree, its horrible, dev clearly balanced this against his own skill (?) and you can safely cut like half of enemies out without taking a loss on content. What also need cutting is chapter length, its irritating and way too long (its almost the same length as the entire game before).
#3
thelushomega670 Dec 26, 2024 @ 3:26pm 
Originally posted by spice_:
I agree, its horrible, dev clearly balanced this against his own skill (?) and you can safely cut like half of enemies out without taking a loss on content. What also need cutting is chapter length, its irritating and way too long (its almost the same length as the entire game before).
What Xen reminds me of is Black Mesa's xen which those devs chose to keep a lot of aspects the same as original hl, including slow pacing, difficult platforming, and annoying tiny babies that fly so ♥♥♥♥♥♥ quick. I am not a fan of choosing to keep xen as a ♥♥♥♥♥♥,slow, and difficult environment and i think going for authenticity over gameplay is cringe. Xen's been the most challenging part of this mod and doesn't feel as rewarding as their magnum opus, chapter 4.
#4
Bonk Man Dec 26, 2024 @ 7:42pm 
My biggest issue with Xen is how utterly long and tedious it is. Firstly, the length doesn't make sense in the first place because it's meant to be a small trip for Barney which he gets out of before Apprehension even takes place, but with how long it takes you in BMBS Barney may have been there until Gordon wakes up from the compactor. Secondly, Barney is a random security guard who struggles against barebones threats compared to Gordon, but here you have him dealing with tough enemy combat that would have been already difficult in base Black Mesa, like the annoying miniboss Bullsquid that drains your health or the electric Houndeyes, making Barney look stronger than Gordon when he isn't even wearing an HEV. The fights you get into are absurd for a random security guard with a generic vest.

It really feels like the devs went too far for the Black Mesa feel and forgot everything else. The idea of exploring that base is cool and all, but for instance the timeline doesn't really make sense if, like the original Half-Life lore states, Gina created the HEV and the portal projects started relatively close to when HL1 takes place. Similarly the actual time Barney spends in Xen is so long that the military would have captured Rosenberg by then, and the difficulty such that the real Barney wouldn't have even survived the early treks before the base. I wish we had a mod which reduced Xen to the classic Blue Shift style but maybe adding the base and early things into it, but seeing how Chapter 4 and this one have been recieved my guess is it'll stay as is.
Last edited by Bonk Man; Dec 26, 2024 @ 7:42pm
#5
jpfitz Dec 27, 2024 @ 12:42pm 
Sorry HECU, i 100% agree with the op.
The "focal point" camp part is completely wrong, too many puzzles! Too many!
After an hour and a half I went on youtube to see what the coordinates of A and B were, I couldn't take it anymore.
The Xen part is visually stunning but it lacks of funny and the fights are unnecessarily difficult. I don't know who tested it, but they did a TERRIBLE job.
For me, this is a masterpiece up to chapter 4 , except the train part before saving Dr.Rosenberg (which is a stupid unnecessary puzzle part like Xen), then the chapter 5 is a visual masterpiece but nothing more.

Xen Vote: Half Failure.
Last edited by jpfitz; Dec 27, 2024 @ 12:49pm
#6
intheloop16 Dec 28, 2024 @ 7:15am 
I couldn't disagree more, I'm having a hard time understanding how you could seriously get lost puzzle wise or think there were too many. Half Life has always partially been a puzzle focused game just as much as an FPS focused game. The ones that are present aren't exactly mentally taxing, especially the coordinates part which was easy as ♥♥♥♥ and may have taken me 15 seconds total. I can partially agree with the enemies thing though, I didn't personally struggle with any of the fights but I know I don't represent the majority here. They for sure could have used a quick balancing pass and tuned the numbers a bit
#7
Bonk Man Dec 28, 2024 @ 3:22pm 
I mean, I didn't struggle per se, but they weren't really fun.
#8
Chicken Jockey Dec 28, 2024 @ 6:05pm 
Originally posted by spice_:
I agree, its horrible, dev clearly balanced this against his own skill (?) and you can safely cut like half of enemies out without taking a loss on content. What also need cutting is chapter length, its irritating and way too long (its almost the same length as the entire game before).
It's not. Clearly, you've never played the entire game. So by chance, you probably have zero idea what you're talking about.
#9
Chicken Jockey Dec 28, 2024 @ 6:06pm 
Originally posted by jpfitz:
Sorry HECU, i 100% agree with the op.
The "focal point" camp part is completely wrong, too many puzzles! Too many!
After an hour and a half I went on youtube to see what the coordinates of A and B were, I couldn't take it anymore.
The Xen part is visually stunning but it lacks of funny and the fights are unnecessarily difficult. I don't know who tested it, but they did a TERRIBLE job.
For me, this is a masterpiece up to chapter 4 , except the train part before saving Dr.Rosenberg (which is a stupid unnecessary puzzle part like Xen), then the chapter 5 is a visual masterpiece but nothing more.

Xen Vote: Half Failure.
That's literally the point dude... You clearly did a terrible job playing the game if you think there were "So MaNy PuZzLes" Well, maybe if you played Black Mesa's Xen again, you'd know they did the exact same thing.
#10
jpfitz Dec 28, 2024 @ 6:33pm 
No, this chapter is so terrible that, from the "Focal Point Base Camp" onwards, i decided to play it with godmode and noclip. I have never done anything like this before in my entire life. It is truly a horrible experience.
I have trouble going forward even with noclip. This is no longer a video game, but a pain in the *** . How is it possible to make such a mess, i can't believe it.
Last edited by jpfitz; Dec 28, 2024 @ 7:13pm
#11
spice_ Jan 1 @ 6:08am 
Originally posted by KneeSurgeryisTomorrow:
Originally posted by spice_:
I agree, its horrible, dev clearly balanced this against his own skill (?) and you can safely cut like half of enemies out without taking a loss on content. What also need cutting is chapter length, its irritating and way too long (its almost the same length as the entire game before).
It's not. Clearly, you've never played the entire game. So by chance, you probably have zero idea what you're talking about.
But I did? Your comment is irrelevant, accept the fact that others have different opinion than yourself and move on.
#12
theimprobableone Jan 1 @ 8:29am 
Originally posted by KneeSurgeryisTomorrow:
Originally posted by spice_:
I agree, its horrible, dev clearly balanced this against his own skill (?) and you can safely cut like half of enemies out without taking a loss on content. What also need cutting is chapter length, its irritating and way too long (its almost the same length as the entire game before).
It's not. Clearly, you've never played the entire game. So by chance, you probably have zero idea what you're talking about.
I didn't play the entire thing, but from the first 2 hours I colud tell that this mod clearly suffers from overdesign. Both puzzles and fights overstay their welcome.
And every time I open another door I need to dispatch another swarm of dogs? Please, I am not a kid I can spend a minute just walking, without shooting my gun every 5 seconds
#13
Alpha_Despair Jan 1 @ 3:50pm 
Same here, just finished Xen and i'm so glad it's finally over. About two thirds done and it just kept going and i was getting pretty prettyyy sick of it, so i decided to speedrunnit to the end... Way too long imo. :steamfacepalm:
#14
sebedoroje Jan 1 @ 6:48pm 
100% its way too long and boring. 2x shorter would be really nice
#15
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