Black Mesa: One Hundred Years Later – Mod Story idea

14th November 2004

I wrote this story in response to a mod called Black Mesa: Source that was looking for ideas. Here’s what they have decided to do: Black Mesa: Source is a Half-Life 2 modification determined to recreate Half-Life 1 on the Source Engine from the ground up, keeping the original as much intact as it possibly can meaning plotlines, concepts, ideas, level layouts, characters, weapons and monsters will be left the same, except with MASSIVE graphical improvements.

With the development of Half Life: Enhanced and Half Life 1: Source is seems a waste of talent to just recreate HL1. I believe that the idea of revisiting Black Mesa is good but perhaps with a new storyline and a few changes to the layout if nothing else to avoid the player becoming blasé and bored.

So with the above in mind here’s my story idea.

Your character is part of a military science search team sent back into Black Mesa 100 years after the original episode. (This may give the mappers a chance to make the place look derelict but keeping the original feel). Your team’s task is to collect data but of course something goes wrong (Surprise!) your electronic equipment has woken some dormant creatures (Face huggers etc) another problem is that you have disturbed some foreign soldiers sent on a stealth mission. (These kind of replace the grunts from HL1). The levels would almost exactly follow HL1 BUT you could replace a few maps with alternative routes. (This would give the mappers a chance to create something entirely new). I think this accomplishes two important points. One, to revisit Black Mesa and two, to introduce something new.

3 Comments

  1. James

    Black Mesa was nuked a few hours after Gordan went to Xen.

  2. I know, but felt that Black Mesa was extensive enough for some of it to have survived, especially since most of it was underground.
    In the film Andromeda Strain, they have a research facility deep underground. It is researching an alien virus. After it leaks into the base the fall-safe system is set to nuke the place to protect it. At the last minute they realise they the radiation will “feed” the virus, so they have to try and stop the explosion.
    In the back of my mind I was thinking that something could have survive in the really deep part of the base and mutated due to the presence of the aliens and the radiation.

  3. Lucas

    How about this:
    I wanna see Nihillanth again..it was so cool, and since thi is based on HL1, will we see Xen again? If so, would we face Nihillanth again, being that he coudl have survived, but now with a totally different form, half mechanical, etc ?
    Just a thought, I’m really drunk.

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