Black Mesa Source

Black Mesa Source

Black Mesa (previously known as Black Mesa: Source) is a third-party total conversion modification for Valve Corporation's Source engine. The stated goal of the project is to recreate Valve's critically acclaimed 1998 video game Half-Life using the more advanced capabilities of the Source engine. The 40-person volunteer development team says they hope to create a more engrossing in-game world with more varied, complex environments and more challenging, realistic gameplay.
During its eight years in development, Black Mesa has been featured in several video game publications and received direct attention from Valve. Due to its long development time the modification has recently become notable for its delays, and dwindling updates on the status of its completion. The delays led to Wired Magazine awarding Black Mesa high spots on their Vaporware Of The Year list in 2009, and again in 2010. The developers released the game as a free download when completed. On June 10, 2012 the Black Mesa development team announced that new "media" would be released once their Facebook page reached 20,000 likes. This goal was reached on June 11, 2012 when 8 new screenshots were released, along with an announcement of the start of a "social-media campaign" towards their first release. On September 2, 2012, project leader Carlos "cman2k" Montero announced that the first Black Mesa release would take place on September 14, 2012.
Public voting saw the game approved for distribution on Steam's Greenlight program and will be released through Valve's own software, as well as a standalone download. The standalone download was released on September 14, 2012.