Meet the Devs: Anthony Stone
My name is Anthony Stone and I am one of the long-standing level designers for Black Mesa. I have worked on much of the AI encounters and logic events across the game as well as building a few of the maps from scratch. I am the teams encyclopedia of how everything works.
My first experience with Half-Life almost didnt happen. I had no idea what I was getting when I first Installed the game and only installed it because I wanted to play Counter-Strike which was a mod back then. I began the game just to see how the graphics looked on my new PC of the time. I started playing it and was confused at first a 10 min tram ride and then I arrive at Anomalous Materials and walked around offices with no real gameplay insight. This was very unusual. I put the game down at that point with no real intent to go back to it, but Im glad I did. The next day I booted it up to show my brother the game I was dubbing the work sim when I got to the residence cascade. I was blown away and finished the game over the next day or so.
Not the most difficult thing for me personally, but a difficult thing to watch was the differences in opinion on art and style across a group of very talented people. Everyone on the team is super good at what they do and everyone has an opinion of what works and what does not. This tends to do areas over and over again in order to really master the idea the team is going for and can cause a considerable headache if you dont check your ego at the door. You are going to have to have many hands-on your work and you may see things you really slaved over get ripped out or changed. It could be a hard pill to swallow for some. It can lead to bitter feelings or discontent but in the end, we all just want the best product that flows well in the end.
MUSIC!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF NEW MUSIC! Seriously, I can keep working for hours with music I have not heard before. It makes the hours fly by. Just no country music please and for my wifes sake keep me away from dubstep.
I originally started making maps for the HL2 leak way back when and then moved into making Counter-Strike Source maps. There was something super satisfying about creating content and seeing how people enjoy it and the way they play it. It also was a great creative outlet for my mind. I always loved to build stuff and this was a great way to take things in my mind and get them into a 3d world I could actually visit.
Yes and no. There was a point where we had to choose to release the Earthbound section of the game or keep fighting on to get XEN done as one major release of the game. I was very on the side of we should put out what we have rather than take the additional years to finish the full game with no end in sight. I set an ultimatum for myself. So while it was not giving up I felt very strongly that we needed to give our fans something. It never came down to it because we did release. Truth be told it probably would not have left anyways
I am so guilty of this. I love to watch streamers play my work. When it first came out, I would watch a few hours a night. Nowadays I check it once or so a week if I am super bored. Ill never get tired of seeing people blow themselves up calling the lift up in the trip mine puzzle in Surface Tension.
[ 2020-09-02 18:00:21 CET ] [ Original post ]
Anthony Stone
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Crowbar Collective.
My name is Anthony Stone and I am one of the long-standing level designers for Black Mesa. I have worked on much of the AI encounters and logic events across the game as well as building a few of the maps from scratch. I am the teams encyclopedia of how everything works.
What was your first experience with Half-Life?
My first experience with Half-Life almost didnt happen. I had no idea what I was getting when I first Installed the game and only installed it because I wanted to play Counter-Strike which was a mod back then. I began the game just to see how the graphics looked on my new PC of the time. I started playing it and was confused at first a 10 min tram ride and then I arrive at Anomalous Materials and walked around offices with no real gameplay insight. This was very unusual. I put the game down at that point with no real intent to go back to it, but Im glad I did. The next day I booted it up to show my brother the game I was dubbing the work sim when I got to the residence cascade. I was blown away and finished the game over the next day or so.
What was the most challenging hurdle that was overcome during development in your role?
Not the most difficult thing for me personally, but a difficult thing to watch was the differences in opinion on art and style across a group of very talented people. Everyone on the team is super good at what they do and everyone has an opinion of what works and what does not. This tends to do areas over and over again in order to really master the idea the team is going for and can cause a considerable headache if you dont check your ego at the door. You are going to have to have many hands-on your work and you may see things you really slaved over get ripped out or changed. It could be a hard pill to swallow for some. It can lead to bitter feelings or discontent but in the end, we all just want the best product that flows well in the end.
How did you resist getting burnt out over such a long development process for Xen?
MUSIC!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF NEW MUSIC! Seriously, I can keep working for hours with music I have not heard before. It makes the hours fly by. Just no country music please and for my wifes sake keep me away from dubstep.
When did your interest in game development begin?
I originally started making maps for the HL2 leak way back when and then moved into making Counter-Strike Source maps. There was something super satisfying about creating content and seeing how people enjoy it and the way they play it. It also was a great creative outlet for my mind. I always loved to build stuff and this was a great way to take things in my mind and get them into a 3d world I could actually visit.
Was there ever a time you were close to giving up and quitting?
Yes and no. There was a point where we had to choose to release the Earthbound section of the game or keep fighting on to get XEN done as one major release of the game. I was very on the side of we should put out what we have rather than take the additional years to finish the full game with no end in sight. I set an ultimatum for myself. So while it was not giving up I felt very strongly that we needed to give our fans something. It never came down to it because we did release. Truth be told it probably would not have left anyways
How often do you watch youtube videos/Twitch streams of Black Mesa?
I am so guilty of this. I love to watch streamers play my work. When it first came out, I would watch a few hours a night. Nowadays I check it once or so a week if I am super bored. Ill never get tired of seeing people blow themselves up calling the lift up in the trip mine puzzle in Surface Tension.
Black Mesa
Crowbar Collective
Crowbar Collective
2020-03-06
Indie Adventure Singleplayer Multiplayer
Game News Posts 166
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
Overwhelmingly Positive
(109206 reviews)
http://www.blackmesagame.com
https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890 
The Game includes VR Support
Black Mesa Linux [131.05 M]
Relive Half-Life in this highly acclaimed, fan-made recreation.
Main Info
Black Mesa is the award winning fan-made re-imagining of Gordon Freeman's landmark journey through the Black Mesa Research Facility. Relive Half-Life, Valve Software's revolutionary debut, and experience the game that raised the bar for the entire game industry all over again!
Key Features
Nostalgia has never felt so fresh - Expect tremendously detailed environments, old-school tough-as-nails combat, and a gripping story with memorable characters. The all-new soundtrack, voice acting, choreography and dialogue create a more expansive and immersive experience than ever before!
Heavily updated single player experience - The over 10 hour single player experience has greatly improved from the mod release; new visuals, new voice over, updated gameplay encounters, stability changes and more. Xen is not part of the Early Access release, but will included as a free update when it is ready.
Black Mesa Multiplayer - Fight with or against your friends, in two game modes across 10 iconic maps from the Half-Life universe including Bounce, Gasworks, Stalkyard, Undertow and Crossfire!
Custom Modding Tools & Workshop - Use the same tools as the developers! Create your own mods, modes and maps for Black Mesa and Black Mesa Multiplayer and then share your work, and subscribe to others, on the Steam Workshop!
Complete Steam Integration - Collect the full set of trading cards, backgrounds, emoticons, and achievements! Steam Cloud, Steam Workshop and partial controller support!
Run. Think. Shoot. Source..
Main Info
Black Mesa is the award winning fan-made re-imagining of Gordon Freeman's landmark journey through the Black Mesa Research Facility. Relive Half-Life, Valve Software's revolutionary debut, and experience the game that raised the bar for the entire game industry all over again!
Key Features
Nostalgia has never felt so fresh - Expect tremendously detailed environments, old-school tough-as-nails combat, and a gripping story with memorable characters. The all-new soundtrack, voice acting, choreography and dialogue create a more expansive and immersive experience than ever before!
Heavily updated single player experience - The over 10 hour single player experience has greatly improved from the mod release; new visuals, new voice over, updated gameplay encounters, stability changes and more. Xen is not part of the Early Access release, but will included as a free update when it is ready.
Black Mesa Multiplayer - Fight with or against your friends, in two game modes across 10 iconic maps from the Half-Life universe including Bounce, Gasworks, Stalkyard, Undertow and Crossfire!
Custom Modding Tools & Workshop - Use the same tools as the developers! Create your own mods, modes and maps for Black Mesa and Black Mesa Multiplayer and then share your work, and subscribe to others, on the Steam Workshop!
Complete Steam Integration - Collect the full set of trading cards, backgrounds, emoticons, and achievements! Steam Cloud, Steam Workshop and partial controller support!
Run. Think. Shoot. Source..
MINIMAL SETUP
- OS: Ubuntu 14.0 or Greater
- Processor: 2.6 Dual Core Processor or GreaterMemory: 4 GB RAM
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 2 GB Dedicated Video Card or GreaterNetwork: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 20 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: Does not support the Nouveau display driver
- OS: Ubuntu 14.0 or Greater
- Processor: 3.2 Quad Core Processor or GreaterMemory: 6 GB RAM
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: 3 GB Dedicated Video Card or GreaterNetwork: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 20 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: Does not support the Nouveau display driver
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