Using Black Mesa assets as well as much of our own custom made content, Hazard Course features a complete re-creation of Half-Life's training level, including new dialogue and voice acting, HD models, textures, and detailed environments.

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Since we hate leaving you guys in silence, to make up for it, we've got something special planned.

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EDIT: Thanks for the questions, everyone! We've now stopped accepting questions in order to prepare for the stream which will happen next week - We'll post the link in a separate news post when we have one.

So, it's been a while since we gave an official news update on the Hazard Course. (We're not dead, we swear!)

Development has still been going on behind our doors, though, once again at a slower rate than we'd like - Real Lifeā„¢ is a big timesink. Regardless, we can't help but feel you guys deserve something special for sticking with us despite the silence, so we're pleased to announce the first ever Hazard Dev Team Q&A Session! Ask your questions below, and we'll do our best to answer as many of them as we can.

We're getting things together to run this as a live stream, too, and we'll be monitoring the stream comments and answering questions you may have there.

The Q&A is scheduled to run around the end of the month, and we'll be posting a recording of it for anyone who misses it when we're done. Get your questions in, folks!

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Pauolo
Pauolo

I'm not gonna ask for a release date, but rather how far the development has gone to and what's left to work on. The last informations displayed on the Black Mesa forums seem to show a lot of progress since you started the mod. ^^

Also I wouldn't mind bits of gameplay video, seeing Gordon sweating on the training grounds. >.>

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notaclevername
notaclevername

I was wondering what software or tools do each of you utilize in your workflow to produce the mods content?

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overwatchprivate
overwatchprivate

Does the team have any plans for future projects after Hazard Course is completed?

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23-down
23-down

Here some basic questions:

1. In your summery you mention that you will enhance upon the PS2 Intro scene. I loved that and remember that I first saw it like IDK 7 years later after HL1 was released. How much will you improve upon it? Can we explore new areas and eventually ride with a tram to the entrance where the ps2 session started?

2. What other enhancements did you do and what particularity are you especially proud on? (perhaps answering with few screenshots)

3. Will you add own puzzles as part of your hazard course while making sure all original places are still present and in tact?

4. What by your own estimates would be the current mod status in percentage? Any estimates for a possible release date?

5. You mentioned you're using custom models & props - some examples please?

6. Will G-man has an appearance in the hazard course?

7. Can we expect own unique easter eggs by you which may make it worthwhile to play it more than once.

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TheMuffinMan2360
TheMuffinMan2360

Have you replied to the tester position applications yet?

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xsantosis
xsantosis

lol where are the replies to these questions?

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TheUnbeholden
TheUnbeholden

give the devs a week to read them. Remember real life and all that :/

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xsantosis
xsantosis

k

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ChrisBryant Creator
ChrisBryant

Or maybe read the last paragraph or two. Thought it was clear enough...

Devs'll be answering the questions via stream at the end of the month.

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Hell_Diguner
Hell_Diguner

How did you make Gina's hologram semi-transparent? (I'm not a seasoned Source modder, so maybe it's fairly easy and well known. I just can't remember ever seeing any semi-transparent props in the Source engine before)

What sort of priorities or goals do you keep in mind when you first block out the new design of a room for the Hazard Course? True to the original? Game flow? Architectural logic? A pre-established theme like "chemical processing" or "radioactive sewers"?

Who has worked on what? During which period of time were they actively doing something for the mod? Did one guy come on, make a bunch of pipe props, then leave? Half-finished levels? Ideas that had to be shelved because the person who had the knowledge to do them is no longer on the team?

Why does Hazard Course and most of Black Mesa have NO foliage? Not even algae growing on some leaky pipes... .... ;-P ....

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Pauolo
Pauolo

Damn phone, I wanted to upvote and ended doing the contrary. ^^'

Anyway, excellent questions here.

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Salk
Salk

My question (as modest modder myself and mod user) is a generic one about modding: why would many (most?) modders keep "local" versions that improve in many ways over the latest released ones for their own instead of making them available, as Beta releases perhaps?

I follow the development of many mods and there are some that have been dormant for literally years and had been reported by the authors to have many improvements done already 1-2 months after the latest public release was out.

Provided that no modder owe us anything, I always rejected this philosophy for my own few productions (FF VII, Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate): whenever I made even a single improvement to a mod of mine, a new version would be out. I'd like to know what you, as modders, think of it.

PS - Specific questions about the Hazard Course mod I had in mind had been covered already by others...

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FlippedOutKyrii
FlippedOutKyrii

Were there any disagreements between team-members regarding design and creative-freedom during the creation of Hazard Course?

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JoeChief
JoeChief

Crypt, since you also work on tripmine studios, will assets from this hazard course be used on their hazard course?

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ItsNotewell Author
ItsNotewell

As a team, we haven't been contacted by Tripmine's leads about usage of our Hazard Course, but they've recently posted up some media on their forums, one shot of which is from their rendition of Blue Shift's Hazard Course, being handled by someone other than Crypt. We're assured that the rest of it looks amazing.

Tripminestudios.com

(Sorry your question didn't make it onto the livestream - it was just barely too late to get in)

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JoeChief
JoeChief

It's allright, it was actually the news from tripmine that made me think of this question, and I would've imagined crypt suggesting the team the use of some assets like Gina's model, etc. But I guess tripmine reallly wants to be fully original on their own.

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ChrisBryant Creator
ChrisBryant

A lot of our HC assets are based heavily on either BM textures or designs. And the example you gave with Gina especially, as that HEV design is very different from Tripmine's HEV suit design.

I'm sure the rest of Tripmine would very much like their own take on The Course, and I wouldn't want to restrict them to our assets in any way.

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