Black Mesa News

Necro Patch Patch!

Hello again, scientist!

Well this has been excruciating. We apologize for any scares and the inconvenience of having the game get reported as a virus.

We have fixed the issue and also put up a number of other patches! Here are the patch notes:

Antivirus False Positive FIXED!

We’ve implemented a temporary fix to stop antivirus programs flagging bms.exe as a false positive. We have a permanent fix in the works, so that this issue will not happen again.

Downloading the update is all you need to do to have the game NOT get reported by your antivirus or Windows Defender (sometimes you have to restart Steam).

Temporary Removal of DXVK

As a result of our antivirus hotfix, we had to temporarily disable DXVK as a launch option. We plan to bring this back online as soon as possible in a future patch.

Improved Controller Support

Fixed an issue which prevented some Steam Deck users from climbing ladders or using trams
Fixed an issue where custom controller bindings were not persisting
Fixed an issue where controller camera movement would not obey iron sights sensitivity
Reworked Gyro Aim which is now handled separately in accordance with Steam Input best practices
Also added “in_gyro_look_yaw_sensitivity” and “in_gyro_look_pitch_sensitivity” console commands for controlling gyro sensitivity.
Revamped default controller layouts:
Official Layout for Black Mesa - Standard Controls. Our official bindings for devices without gyro support
Official Layout for Black Mesa - Standard Controls. Our official bindings for devices with gyro support
Official Layout for Black Mesa - Steam Deck Controls. Our official bindings for Steam Deck, adding trackpad support for the main menu
New Steam Input Game Actions:
- “Quick tripmine” - for quickly placing tripmines.
- “Quick frag” - for quickly throwing frags.
- “Use crowbar” - for quick crowbar switching.
Added a console command, “steam_input_show_bindings” which will bring up the Steam Input configurator via the Steam Overlay.
A helpful guide on controller troubleshooting with Steam can be found here

Gameplay

Fixed an issue where auto-aim would aim at items the player was holding (like ground sentries)
Adjusted auto aim values in skill.cgf to have a longer range and be more magnetic

Dedicated Server Fix Soon

Still testing internally but we did fix:
Build process for dedicated servers (a compile switch was missing)
This should resolve some crashing issues with dedicated servers

Auto-Aim

As mentioned in the patch notes, we completely overhauled the auto-aim feature within the game. This can be configured by changing console settings in the game. Details here.

If you would like to change the settings for the auto-aim permanently, all you have to do is go to Black Mesa\bms\cfg\skill.cfg and edit the numbers at the bottom of the text file.

We are interested to hear what people think of the auto-aim (most of us are terrible at playing the game with controllers).

Known Issues

[h3]Video Settings Crash[/h3]
We are aware that if you change certain video settings WHILE in game, it can crash the game to the main menu and not let you resume the autosave it just created. We are looking into this!

[h3]Some UI Elements Need Localization[/h3]
New HUD elements and controller options need to be localized

[h3]Invalid Game Configuration[/h3]
If you get a message like below, simply restart Steam and re-launch the game.

Previous Necro Patch Notes:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/362890/view/4174347361777844150

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thanks to everyone who helped us test AGAIN.

Necro Patch Follow Up

Virus Detection False Positive

We’re investigating why some antivirus software and Windows Defender pick up the game or one of the tools as malicious. We’ve had tools flagged by different antivirus programs in the past, but never the .exe of the game itself. Needless to say, there are NO viruses within Black Mesa. We’re a little worried that this false positive is due to new detection methods beyond our control, but as we said, we keep looking into the issue!

(As of writing this we may have a lead as to what is tripping antivirus. We may have a workaround to fix it)

We apologize if this spooked anyone. The last thing you want to see after buying a game is that type of alert.

Updated Launch Options

We updated the launch options to default to the game running in DirectX 9 and the UI running in DirectX 11. This helps ensure maximum compatibility across various target hardware.

There is still the option to run the game using Vulkan DXVK. If your computer is having trouble running the game in certain spots, this is a good option to try. It does have drawbacks: it does not like alt-tabbing from the game, and it cannot do borderless fullscreen correctly (the game will run fine, but it will act like regular fullscreen).

Finally, there is the DirectX 9 fallback, which runs both the game and UI on DirectX 9, in case your hardware setup requires it.

So now when launching the game you will see:
-Play Default
-Play Performance Option (DXVK)
-Play DirectX 9 (Legacy)

If you have already set the launch option and want to change, simply right-click the game, go to properties, General, and click the drop-down under “Launch Options”.

Incoming Patches

Soon, we will release a patch with the following fixes:

[h2]Steam Input[/h2]

Upgrading Black Mesa to use Steamwork V1.52 for better input implementation
[TO CONFIRM]: Fixed custom controller bindings not persisting
Fixed an issue that prevented some users from climbing ladders and using trams on Steam Deck
Lowering controller deadzone for better feel
[NOTE]: A helpful guide on controller troubleshooting with Steam can be found here

[h2]Video Settings Crash[/h2]
We are aware that if you change certain video settings WHILE in game, it can crash the game to the main menu and not let you resume the autosave it just created.

We are looking into this.

[h2]Dedicated Server[/h2]

Fixed build process for dedicated servers (a compile switch was missing)
This should resolve some crashing issues with dedicated servers

[h2]Auto-Aim[/h2]
As mentioned in the patch notes, we completely overhauled the auto-aim feature within the game. This can be configured by changing console settings in the game. Details here.

If you would like to change the settings for the auto-aim permanently, all you have to do is go to Black Mesa\bms\cfg\skill.cfg and edit the numbers at the bottom of the text file.

We are interested to hear what people think of the auto-aim (most of us are terrible at playing the game with controllers). We may be increasing these values to be more magnetic with the upcoming patch.

Black Mesa and Steam Deck

A lot of community members have asked about Steam Deck verification. We don’t think we’ll be able to meet the requirements to get officially verified. We’re very happy with the progress that we have made, but full verification was never our goal (the main blockers being true full controller support, and performance in our more demanding levels).

For now, using Proton’s latest version or latest beta is the best way to run the game on Steam Deck. Proton has solved a number of issues we had in the native Linux version, so give that a try with our newly implemented Steam Input (right after we put out the ladder fix above)

If you get any drifting using gyro aiming, try calibrating the Steam Deck’s gyro. (tom’s guide article on how to do this)

We’ll keep an eye on Steam Deck and see if there is anything we can do to help make it even better going forward.

There are some other issues we'll be follow up with with the community. Thank you, again!

Half-Life remake gets massive update and 80% off Steam sale

Half-Life is the essential PC shooter. Valve's game is the FPS that launched a thousand imitators, as it blends unique immersive storytelling with some of the tightest weapon controls ever put to screen. After playing Half-Life for myself it's tempting to say the shooter hasn't aged a day, but it has. This is why the fan remake, Black Mesa, is such a standout alternative and follow-up to Valve's original. If you're yet to play it or think it's time for a replay then I've got good news, as Black Mesa just got a massive update, and the game is currently 80% off too.

Read the rest of the story...

The blasphemy of playing Half-Life with a gamepad is now easier as Black Mesa gets a sudden weighty update, devs tease 'more dangerous patch' to come

What's the half-life of Half-Life? By my reckoning, it seems we'll stop receiving updates to (one version or another of) Valve's classic roughly around the time Chernobyl becomes habitable again. Not only did the original game get a big ol' update last November, but now Black Mesa—its Valve-endorsed remake—has just put out a meaty list of fixes. It's calling it the "Necro patch" for reasons I'm not entirely clear on but am very enthusiastic about...
Read more.

Necro Patch!

Hello, fellow zombie scientist!

We’ve just released an update to Black Mesa. Our goal was to improve performance, improve controller support, and fix a number of issues, without breaking your save files.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/

Here are the patch notes!

Key Updates

Improved performance of the game (Vulkan, UI optimization, New Renderer/New Post Post Process Optimization)
Fixed cases where game would crash on startup
Fixed UI flickering and artifacting
Fixed crash in the first map of Interloper that players were experiencing
Improved controller support using Steam Input
-Click here for detailed notes on adjusting controller support
Fixed hitch when weapon decals are first applied to gun
Re-enabled weapon decals by default

Rendering/Performance

Ported the game to DXVK 2.3.1 (first launch option)
Performance enhancements have been implemented for the New Renderer and New Post-Process systems, particularly noticeable in scenes featuring water
Fixed moss shaders and direction control for both vertex lit shader and skin shader (for props with/without phong)
Fixed halflambert/warp/specwarp related problems across all the shaders
Unlocked the even higher graphics setting in options menu
The lighting quality settings in the New UI have been updated to reflect recent changes.
Monitors and refract views can now leverage the New Renderer features
God Rays support has been added for the sun and local lights
-Note: God Rays are intentionally turned off for monitors and reflection views
Improved the blending quality of normal maps within 4-way blending
SpotLight cookies should now work on any orientation. Cookie sprite sheet no longer needs to be square.
Black Mesa now requests high-performance power management on Windows, which should reduce power throttling impacting performance
Implemented the ability to dump environment variables (-dumpenvironment launch option), assisting in resolving potential issues
Lots of misc graphics fixes
Disabled CPU-based backface culling for Func_Brush models
Disabled CSM for viewmodels for secondary cameras
Fixed flicker near Light Volume edges
Fixed Xog artifacts with cheaper water

Controller Support

Controller support for Black Mesa has now been given the love and attention it has been seeking. Black Mesa now fully supports and integrates with Steam Input, allowing both us as developers and you as the community to create your own custom controller bindings and share them!

With Steam Input now implemented, we now have partial support the following devices:

Xbox Controllers
Playstation Controllers
Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers
We have also implemented proper Gyro support for Steam Deck!

To get started, simply navigate to the Steam Controller Layout configurator and select one of our official layouts and hit 'Apply Layout'.

Details on how to use it here.

User Interface

Modified the Game/UI rendering synchronization, aiming for stable UI presentation across all three available modes
Updated the UI frame limiter logic to enhance the smoothness of frame pacing, which was particularly noticeable when vertical synchronization was active
Improved performance by optimizing the texture lock implementation within the UI
Resolved the issue where the UI occasionally failed to render at full size after resolution adjustments
Fixed alpha blending of UI with background map
Added a number of missing translators, including the 2012 mod translators (need to track down a list of who did what language)

Bug Fixes

Interloper A crash fix
Resolved the issue where the Tau Canon would crash upon the owner's demise
Addressed a potential hang issue upon exiting the game
A reflection bug involving Xen fog at extreme angles has been fixed
Transparency issues in fake water have been resolved, and it now supports New Renderer, New Post-Process, and CSM
Resolved outline artifacts present in alpha-tested materials
Resolved an issue where view models were improperly identified within one shader, leading to lighting and shadow inconsistencies
Fixed a bug related to the Diffuse Warp when using more than eight slots in the atlas
Fixed a Workshop Client issue related to double initialization, which had the potential to cause crashes

Known Issues

Alt-Tabbing while using Vulkan can sometimes crash the game
Anti-virus can sometimes flag the game as malicious even though it is not (we’ll see what we can do about this)
Minor UI overlap errors on some ultra wide monitors
Some UI elements need localization

Next, we may look into more robust fixes that might break saves and switching over Linux support to Proton, but we don’t have a timeline for that.

Blue Shift

Also, here is a sneak peak at what the HECU Collective has been up to with Black Mesa: Blue Shift. Check out their ModDB page and Discord for the latest news on their amazing work!

More to come. Thanks to our community for all the help testing and bug reporting! This went very smoothly thanks to your work.

Hope everyone is having a great spring!

Discord