Black Mesa

This page is for the unofficial remake. For the original game, see Half-Life. For the Source engine port, see Half-Life: Source.

Black Mesa

Developers
	Crowbar Collective
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	March 6, 2020
Linux	March 6, 2020
Reception
Metacritic	84
OpenCritic	85
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	North America, Sci-fi
Series	Half-Life mods and fangames

Black Mesa is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person shooter game created in the Source engine, and an unofficial reimagining of the original Half-Life from 1998.

An incomplete version of the game was released as a free standalone mod on September 14, 2012, and consisted of only the earth-bound chapters of the campaign, and no multiplayer mode. The game was released commercially in Early Access on Steam on May 5, 2015 and included a multiplayer mode as well as made use of a newer version of the Source engine. On March 6, 2020 the finished version of the game was released.

General information

Official Discord server

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Steam		The Linux version is DRM-free when run directly from executable.

The original standalone release from September 2012 is no longer available for download at the official website, but is available here.

MP3s of the official soundtrack are available for free with the option to donate at the official website, as well as at Joel Nielsen's Website. Lossless formats are available for purchase from Bandcamp.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Steam	<path-to-game>\bms\cfg\ <path-to-game>\bms\save\

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Steam	<path-to-game>\bms\save\

Saved games cannot transfer between the mod release and Steam release. Use sv_unlockedchapters 15 in the console to unlock all chapters.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Custom resolutions
Multi-monitor			HUD is not centered.
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		75-90° (horizontal based on Hor+ from 4:3); for setting FOV higher, see FOV. To change viewmodel/weapon FOV subscribe to this addon.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA toggle. Nvidia users can force a separate AA method on older builds using Nvidia Profile Inspector, see compatibility flags; this does not work as of the Xen update.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Double buffered , Triple buffered (Vulkan)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		300 FPS cap by default. See Refresh rate (Hz) for a higher or even unlocked FPS cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.
Ray tracing (RT)

Refresh rate (Hz)

Use the -refresh ## command line argument to run at custom refresh rate[citation needed]

Use "fps_max XX" console command
Allows for values up to 1000. Use value 0 for uncapped framerate.

Custom resolutions

Use -w XX -h YY command line argument to set custom resolution

Ambient Occlusion

Use Nvidia Inspector: Ambient Occlusion compatibility set to '0x00000014 (Left 4 Dead 2)'[citation needed]

FOV

Use fov_desired XX command in the console[citation needed]
Command allows values up to 120.

Input

In-game general settings.

Input settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Off by default.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Controller support updated April 26, 2021.
Full controller support		Fully supported since Necro Patch.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers		Both Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and Generic Gamepads are supported via Steam Input API
Button prompts		Nintendo Switch Pro Controller button prompts are supported via Steam Input API

Steam Input
Steam Input API support		Steam Input API is fully supported since "Necro Patch".
Official controller preset(s)
Steam Controller button prompts

• 

  Movement Rebinding

• 

  Combat Rebinding

• 

  Miscellaneous Rebinding

• 

  Weapons Rebinding

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  Multiplayer Keys Rebinding

Toggle crouch

Add script to autoexec.cfg
Go to <path-to-game>/bms/cfg/. Open autoexec.cfg and add the following lines: alias t_duck "duck1" alias duck1 "+duck; alias t_duck duck2" alias duck2 "-duck; alias t_duck duck1" bind "ctrl" "t_duck" Replace ctrl with desired crouch key. Launch the game and bring up the console. Type in exec autoexec. Press ↵ Enter.

Toggle ironsights

Run console command
Launch the game and bring up the console. Type in cl_ironsight_sticky 1. Press ↵ Enter. Revolver doesn't use classic ironsights when toggle ironsights is enabled; see Revolver uses ironsights when classic ironsights is enabled for workarounds.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		4.0, 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound. 7.1 output may require DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Can be toggled in audio options.
EAX support		Set snd_legacy_surround 1 in console, 4 speakers, 5.1 speakers, or 7.1 speakers in options, and use DSOAL for binaural HRTF mixing.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

The language of the Subtitles is configured from the Audio Options of the game. The interface language is linked to the language of Steam.

Note: It can happen in some languages that the interface cannot be set to the desired language because steam does not support the language but if the subtitles because the game does allow you to configure them

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Arabic
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Lithuanian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Romanian
Russian				Fan voice-over by «GamesVoice».
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		32	Versus
Online play		32	Versus

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			See Helix Mod: Black Mesa.
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Devices
Novint Falcon

Issues unresolved

Chromatic aberration always on

Chromatic aberration stays on even after disabling it through the video options. Its associate variable mat_chromatic_damage_enable doesn't work either.

The game closes abruptly right after you hit play

Workaround: apply the -oldgameui as a command line argument
Using this command-line argument, will force the game to boot with the legacy Source engine menu, which has been unsupported by the developers of the game since at least May 2020 and might contain bugs and missing features.

HUD post-processing broken on AMD GPUs

Ever since the 2019 Xen Beta was released, the bloom effect on the player HUD was broken on AMD GPUs, preventing the HUD from glowing like it does on Nvidia GPUs.

There are no known fixes for this issue.

• 

  How the HUD looks on Nvidia GPUs.

• 

  How the HUD looks on AMD GPUs.

Issues fixed

Flashlight not working on Intel GPU

On system using Intel GPUs, flashlight may not illuminate certain objects.

Override the reported graphics device to the ones supported by the game.

Add -force_vendor_id 0x10DE -force_device_id 0x1180 command line parameters to the game's launch options. This will make the game reports the GPU as an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680. The game may also fall back to Direct3D 9 with Shader Model 2.x. Which may cause some graphical features such as parallax mapping or Phong shading to be disabled. Force either D3D9 w/ Shader Model 3 or D3D9Ex with either -dxlevel 95 or -dxlevel 98 command-line parameters. Launch the game once then remove the corresponding parameters above to prevent the game from reset the settings on subsequent launches.

Very poor performance on AMDGPU kernel driver (Linux)

It is possible to run the game without starting Steam by running bms.sh

Run the game in Steam Native environment[citation needed]

Dynamic light flickering on Linux

There are reports of lighting flicker when using dynamic lighting/shadows on some Linux systems.

Force game to use Proton instead of Native Linux version.
Force the use of Proton in the game properties in Steam library and select Proton Experimental Proton will use DXVK instead of the native OpenGL renderer

Change dynamic lighting quality to "Potato" in the video settings.

Revolver uses ironsights when classic ironsights is enabled

Use a separate key for ironsights
Launch the game and bring up the console. Type in bind <key> toggle_zoom. Replace <key> with desired ironsight key. Press ↵ Enter.

Add script to autoexec.cfg for weapon category keybinds

The Next Weapon, Previous Weapon, and Last Weapon Used keys will not switch between Secondary Attack and ironsights. When the player has the pistol but not the revolver, selecting Category 2 with the pistol selected toggles between the pistol's Secondary Attack and ironsights. Go to <path-to-game>/bms/cfg/. Open autoexec.cfg and add the following lines: alias bind_attack2 "bind mouse2 +attack2" alias bind_toggle_zoom "bind mouse2 toggle_zoom" bind 1 category1 alias bind_category2_p1 "bind 2 category2_p1" alias bind_category2_p2 "bind 2 category2_p2" bind 3 category3 bind 4 category4 bind 5 category5 alias category1 "slot1; bind_attack2; bind_category2_p1" alias category2_p1 "slot2; bind_attack2; bind_category2_p2" alias category2_p2 "slot2; bind_toggle_zoom; bind_category2_p1" alias category3 "slot3; bind_attack2; bind_category2_p1" alias category4 "slot4; bind_attack2; bind_category2_p1" alias category5 "slot5; bind_attack2; bind_category2_p1" bind_attack2 Replace mouse2 with desired Secondary Attack key. Replace bind # with respective desired Category keys Save the file.

Add script to autoexec.cfg for weapon keybinds

The Next Weapon, Previous Weapon, and Last Weapon Used keys will not switch between Secondary Attack and ironsights. Go to <path-to-game>/bms/cfg/. Open autoexec.cfg and add the following lines: alias bind_attack2 "bind mouse2 +attack2" alias bind_toggle_zoom "bind mouse2 toggle_zoom" bind 1 crowbar bind 2 pistol bind 3 357_magnum bind 4 smg bind 5 shotgun bind 6 crossbow bind 7 rocket_launcher bind 8 select_tau bind 9 select_gluon bind 0 frag_grenade bind f1 tripmines bind f2 satchel bind f3 snarks alias crowbar "use weapon_crowbar; bind_attack2" alias pistol "use weapon_glock; bind_attack2" alias 357_magnum "use weapon_357; bind_toggle_zoom" alias smg "use weapon_mp5; bind_attack2" alias shotgun "use weapon_shotgun; bind_attack2" alias crossbow "use weapon_crossbow; bind_attack2" alias rocket_launcher "use weapon_rpg; bind_attack2" alias tau_cannon "use weapon_tau; bind_attack2" alias gluon_gun "use weapon_gluon; bind_attack2" alias hivehand "use weapon_hivehand; bind_attack2" alias frag_grenade "use weapon_frag; bind_attack2" alias tripmines "use weapon_tripmine; bind_attack2" alias satchel "use weapon_satchel; bind_attack2" alias snarks "use weapon_snark; bind_attack2" bind_attack2 Replace mouse2 with desired Secondary Attack key. Replace bind # with respective desired Weapon keys Save the file.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 9Ex
OpenGL	2.1	Linux only.
Vulkan		Works via DXVK translation layer (Only Windows)
Shader Model support	2, 3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System
Interface	Qt	v5.9.9
Input	SDL, XInput	SDL v2.0.4.0, XInput v9.15.779.0
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Steamworks

Enabling the console

Set through options menu
Go to Options and click on Game. Set Developer Console to Yes.

DXVK translation layer

DXVK (Direct3D-to-Vulkan) can be used to improve the games performance.

The game will stutter while the cache file is being generated for the first time.

Use DXVK on Windows[citation needed]

Download the latest DXVK release Assets → dxvk-version.tar.gz Extract the dxvk-version.tar.gz archive Copy d3d9.dll from the x32 folder. Paste d3d9.dll into the game's bin folder at \SteamApps\common\Black Mesa\bin. bms.dxvk-cache file will be created in the \SteamApps\shadercache\362890\DXVK_state_cache directory. Use launch options via properties in Steam -oldgameui if you can't see menus/options in-game (may break some mods).

Linux: force game to use Proton instead of Native Linux version[citation needed]
DXVK is included in Proton. DXVK runs faster than the native OpenGL renderer on Linux.[citation needed][dubious – discuss]

System requirements

Windows

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10	10, 11
Processor (CPU)	2.6 GHz Dual Core	3.2 GHz Quad Core
System memory (RAM)	6 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	20 GB
Video card (GPU)	2 GB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	4 GB of VRAM

Support for Windows XP has been dropped as of 2016, while the game can be played on Windows XP, limitations imposed by the OS 4 GB memory limitations will most likely cause performance issue and out-of-memory crashes. Support for Windows Vista to 8.1 were also dropped with the release of Necro Patch update.

Linux
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 14.0
Processor (CPU)	2.6 GHz Dual Core	3.2 GHz Quad Core
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	6 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	20 GB
Video card (GPU)	2 GB of VRAM OpenGL 3.0 compatible	3 GB of VRAM