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Black Mesa EPF 
| Author | Mutant |
| Date of release | v1 - December 25, 2011 |
| .bsp filename | BlackMesaEPF |
Introduction
You glance nervously around the lab, and then at the portal. This wasn't like you - you always dive into these situations. As a member of the Sven Co-op team, you were used to dangerous situations in new territories. This was based on home soil, at the Black Mesa labs. The reports received back however, were enough to make your blood run cold. There was something different about this mission.. Something, foreboding.
A while ago a group of scientists had contacted the agency asking for assistance to escape the facility. Reportedly a portal to another world had been opened, and creatures had poured through, killing the security teams and scientists, and turning many into zombified monsters. The U.S. Military had also intervened, but only to fight back the invasion, and permanently silence any that were witness to it.
The potential reward was massive - the scientists were willing to give access to thousands of documents of top secret research that had been conducted at Black Mesa. Technologies such as powerful weapons and portal technology - it would have given a huge edge to the agencies' combative abilities - and the price they could levy on their services. But the first two soldiers through the portal never came back. Their deaths were sudden and shocking. Transmitted over the radio, their screams and cries were a sure warning for any considering following them through.
And yet here you were. The portal flickering and pulsing like a fire of hell, floating in front of you. The Commander had ordered all soldiers to embark on this mission. The risks were high but the rewards worth it. Your mouth dry, you think of the consequences if it all goes wrong.
"Get in." Comes the voice from the Commander, safe behind his bullet proof glass. You swallow, take a mental dose of courage, and step into the portal, as everything turns to blackness…
OBJECTIVES :
» Cleanse Black Mesa Sector EPF of the alien and military forces.
» Forge an escape route to the surface.
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Rate this map
4.1 / 5 (9 votes)
Reviews
Comments & discussion
Rules:
- Feedback should be constructive.
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- If you need help installing maps, please read the installation guide.
I’ve taken a trip down nostalgia lane and been reading the reviews and watching some Youtube’s of the map - really pleased so many people seem to enjoy it and still play it. Quite humbling really.
Some questions keep coming up regarding the map, so I decided to answer them below:
What was the plan with the map? Is it unfinished?
Yes the map is unfinished. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, in 2011/12 I was hitting Gold Source’s brush and entity limits near constantly - this was prior to release. So I eventually came to the acceptance to wrap up what I had, tidy and get the most out of the map that I could.
I was heavily inspired by a few maps I loved over the years: Osprey, for its replayability and heavy action orientation; Incoming, for its random mission structure; the original HL & OPFor campaigns for their atmosphere and storytelling; and lots of different SC maps for how they handled co-operation online. I took lots of these elements and tried to make a map that would be constantly busy, replayable and with high quality Black Mesa looks and atmosphere.
If the limits hadn’t been there the plan would have been to release it with about 10 missions across 4 layers, that could all be randomly triggered. With that number it should be possible that people get a unique experience each time they play, for up to about 100 or so playthroughs.
Why is the laser puzzle so hard?
It was kind of deliberate as I wanted players to have a challenge getting through - it should be possible to crouch jump through the lasers and manually deactivate the terminal at the end. IMHO it is worth doing that in order to get the friendly robogrunts in the next room, who can then be taken around the facility, including guarding the spawn area.
Where did I go?
Simply: real life took over. Work, girlfriends, marriage, children etc.
When will it be updated?
I haven’t touched it since 2012, so it’s very possible that the limits I had before have been lifted. That said, I don’t currently have plans to revisit in the near future, due to a lack of time from having two young kids, including a 3 month baby. In a few years that will ease, and if the project is still going then I’d love to finish it! In the meantime I am occasionally active on the SC Discord under the handle ‘Mutant’ if you wanted to contact me.
https://youtu.be/sUy-STS3Srs
At train cutscene, when I reach at the end of the door and there's some extended that behind the door during off-screen.
Wonder If I could see this map ported to OG half-life or black mesa.
Yes, there is a chunk of the map that is not being used. It seems this map was unfinished. The author seems to be missing for years now so I don't think he will finish it. But, the unused map area is properly mapped and prepared, it only is missing point entities like enemies. Perhaps a ripent can add it back.
I hope you all check his relase info site
I found this from his info
No mission 5 just yet though. Sorry about that, but the Gold Source limits are ruining my day.
[From 4.7 changelog]
That was mission 5 area. But, it seems over entity limits. so.. that reason he couldnt make mission 5 and just finish in that door.
Yeah my original plan for this map was numerous missions, each triggered randomly on each play through, so you got a unique game each time (even some of the missions you knew, the order should be new). The final arena, which was planned to include an area similar to HL's surface tension and an osprey, was unfinished as I was hitting Gold sources entity and brush limits.
My time is still really limited still now (grown up with young kids), but my son will soon be old enough to play this game, so that might inspire me to return and finish it according to the original vision.
glad to back in here :D
I don't know if this is intentional but it doesn't seem so.
The map ends abruptly upon reaching the door behind the assassins once the bridge is extended (many times ending the map while the assassins are still alive). The osprey that is heard is never seen and a big piece of the map right on the other side of that door is not seen either, so I wondered why would the mapper create a whole room to fight that cant be accessed? So I assumed this is a bug where the brush that triggers the end of the map is misplaced!!
Nope, wrong assumption. Reaching that door always ends the map, doesn't matter how many NPCs are still alive due to intentional, working trigger brush.
It's safer to assume that the map had been intended to be longer, carrying on into that unseen section. The door to it works and can be triggered, but the area (obviously a combat arena) is empty and a hasty black block was placed behind the "map end" door so that when it opened, players wouldn't see the unfinished part of the map - just black and then the fade-out.
Mapper got tired/bored/busy IRL, who knows - but it's better to end it like this and actually release it, than keep it as unfinished WIP forever.
The intention with this area was for it to go to an outdoor area with an osprey deployed. One of my favourite SC maps of all time is Snipers' Osprey - I love it's action orientation and replayability, and this area would likely have been similar. Alas, around this time I started to hit Gold Source's entity and bsp limits in the compiler, so I had to limit the ending with the brush and leave it unfinished, not to mention many other extensions I had planned.
Sorry for late reply, if I can call six years that..!
Level design and attention to Detail - Very Good.
Played on non-XP server (and was alone), so expected the initial two scientist to heal or offer medical attention. - Died quite a lot before I cleaned out and got access to the infirmary.
Found a few areas too dark (could not see what I was shooting at/or see ammo on the floor.) Not a major problem once the map layout is remembered or with more players on-line.
One of the dead bodies (yellow/orange suit?) is not illusionary (thought there was some sort of clipping problem when I tried to pass / Body is in main walk area before the small lift.)
regards
Thanks for the review! Yeah, the yellow/orange suit guy is fixed in the next version. In the meantime though, for a bit of fun, you can revive him and watch him walk around. :D