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Shortly after drastically improving the performance in the Linux version, Crowbar Collective actually released the Xen chapter of Black Mesa out to everyone.

You no longer need to opt into any Beta, plus it comes with updates to the gameplay gathered from feedback during the beta period to "refine the difficulty, increase player guidance, fix bugs, as well as increase performance throughout the Interloper chapter". Black Mesa is still in Early Access, but at least now you can complete it and you should have a pretty good experience but they will still be taking on feedback and adding in some more polish to it.

With the release of Xen, they've also shared a roadmap of what's coming up. With one of the next releases, they're going to be adding in a new set of Steam Achievements for the Xen levels which they have ready to go. With the big "1.0" release they're looking at doing a pass over the multiplayer to ensure it's all working, they're going to take a look at the AI and see if they can bring the improvements from Xen over to the Earth levels, ensure Steam Workshop is working correctly and overall bug fixing.

Once Black Mesa leaves Early Access, they're planning to go over the Earth levels again to ensure they're using all their fancy new graphical features (likely made for Xen), more gameplay improvements and ensuring it all just fits together properly. They're joking calling the post-EA update "Black Mesa: Definitive Edition".

You can pick up Black Mesa now on Steam where it's 20% off until January 2nd.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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11 comments

Mr. Pinsky Dec 27, 2019
I played through the whole game from start to finish during the last few days, it's fantastic.

It looks and feels like a whole new game, not just a remake, they expanded it so much, especially in the Xen chapters.
BielFPs Dec 27, 2019
They've done a great deal in a small time... span...
WorMzy Dec 27, 2019
I've started a new play through. I've never actually played BM all the way through, I'm looking forward to seeing the little extras they've added in along the way.
Comandante Ñoñardo Dec 27, 2019
Now We need multilanguage VO like the original game...
I don't have a problem to pay an extra for to play it in Spanish.
jarhead_h Dec 28, 2019
Is there something that you have to do special to get the Linux performance boost? Because I just fired it up and it's choking just as badly as the last time I ran it last year. At 1080p. With some settings turned down to medium.
WorMzy Dec 28, 2019
Quoting: jarhead_hIs there something that you have to do special to get the Linux performance boost? Because I just fired it up and it's choking just as badly as the last time I ran it last year. At 1080p. With some settings turned down to medium.

No idea what your hardware is, but it works fine at 2560x1440 with all the settings turned up as high as they go on my nvidia 970.
PopeRigby Dec 28, 2019
Do you think it's a good idea to buy it once it's out of EA? I want to experience it in its finished state.
Mountain Man Dec 29, 2019
It's ironic that the best new Half-Life game to be released in over a decade is not coming from Valve.
jarhead_h Dec 30, 2019
Quoting: WorMzy
Quoting: jarhead_hIs there something that you have to do special to get the Linux performance boost? Because I just fired it up and it's choking just as badly as the last time I ran it last year. At 1080p. With some settings turned down to medium.

No idea what your hardware is, but it works fine at 2560x1440 with all the settings turned up as high as they go on my nvidia 970.

I'm running a Phenom II 960T @ 3.7ghz constant, 16gb DDR3, a Samsung 860EVO, and a 6gb GTX1060. And turning half the settings to medium still leads to it choking. 4x anistropic with NO AA. I get that the CPU is going to be a bottleneck, but this is a Source game. I just played through HL2, EP1 with maxed out settings without any slowdown. So what gives?
Eike Dec 30, 2019
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Quoting: Mountain ManIt's ironic that the best new Half-Life game to be released in over a decade is not coming from Valve.

You already played Alyx?
WorMzy Jan 6, 2020
Just finished Black Mesa yesterday, and I love what they did with Xen. Especially regarding the Vorts.

The final fight with Gonarch was a pain in the arse though, I found the Nihilanth fight far easier (although it did get very overwhelming at times).
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