Surface Tension
From Black Mesa: Wiki
Contents |
Chapter Summary
After returning to the surface, Gordon must fight through hordes of HECU marines and Xenian aliens who are locked in combat with each other. Gordon's destination is the Lambda Complex on the far side of the facility. The chapter's most famous location is the Black Mesa Hydro-Electric Power Facility, more commonly known as “The Dam”.
Surface Tension is the twelfth chapter of Black Mesa.
Gameplay
The chapter features expansive outdoor sections and large-scale firefights as the primary backdrop. In addition to HECU marines, the player also encounters several Apache gunships and tanks that require much heavier firepower to destroy. Several new environmental hazards are introduced, such as minefields and jump platforms.
Currently Surface Tension is the chapter with most load points in the mod: Eight separate levels [4].
Media
Screenshots
More |
Videos
A preview of Surface Tension's skybox
(Alpha gameplay). |
The Official Teaser, that gives a full view of The Dam
at the end. |
Redesign History
Level Design
One of the most iconic sequences in the chapter, the Dam, has been vastly updated from its original build in Half-Life. Level designer Spencer Rose headed the dam map, with the goal of creating a level similar to the original, but one that takes advantage of the Source engine's improvements (like Terrain Displacements and far larger maps). Through a series of modifications and revisions the dam has been upgraded to its current scale; three times the size of the original. The actual design of the dam was based off a combination of the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams, as their design and locale fit the setting of Black Mesa. The transition portion at the start and ends of the level, as well as a visual pass, was done by Anthony Stone. The current lighting, sky, and environment settings were setup by Daniel Junek to match the chapter-wide standards. [5]
Redesign Gallery |
Environment Elements
Some props and textures used in the chapter enviroment:
 A set of saguaro cactus, made by Jason Wells. They aren't breakable [2] (they could be, but they were designed this way to prevent entdata overheads in the Source Engine's entity limits, spent elsewhere in the map [3]). |
 The drain consoles. By Mark Foreman. |
 The drain consoles textures. By Mark Foreman. |
 One of the many diamond road signs seen in the chapter. By Spencer Rose. |
