Hello, fellow zombie scientist! Weve just released an update to Black Mesa. Our goal was to improve performance, improve controller support, and fix a number of issues, without breaking your save files. https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/ Here are the patch notes!

Key Updates

• Improved performance of the game (Vulkan, UI optimization, New Renderer/New Post Post Process Optimization)
• Fixed cases where game would crash on startup
• Fixed UI flickering and artifacting
• Fixed crash in the first map of Interloper that players were experiencing
• Improved controller support using Steam Input
• -Click here for detailed notes on adjusting controller support
• Fixed hitch when weapon decals are first applied to gun
• Re-enabled weapon decals by default

Rendering/Performance

• Ported the game to DXVK 2.3.1 (first launch option)
• Performance enhancements have been implemented for the New Renderer and New Post-Process systems, particularly noticeable in scenes featuring water
• Fixed moss shaders and direction control for both vertex lit shader and skin shader (for props with/without phong)
• Fixed halflambert/warp/specwarp related problems across all the shaders
• Unlocked the even higher graphics setting in options menu
• The lighting quality settings in the New UI have been updated to reflect recent changes.
• Monitors and refract views can now leverage the New Renderer features
• God Rays support has been added for the sun and local lights
• -Note: God Rays are intentionally turned off for monitors and reflection views
• Improved the blending quality of normal maps within 4-way blending
• SpotLight cookies should now work on any orientation. Cookie sprite sheet no longer needs to be square.
• Black Mesa now requests high-performance power management on Windows, which should reduce power throttling impacting performance
• Implemented the ability to dump environment variables (-dumpenvironment launch option), assisting in resolving potential issues
• Lots of misc graphics fixes
• Disabled CPU-based backface culling for Func_Brush models
• Disabled CSM for viewmodels for secondary cameras
• Fixed flicker near Light Volume edges
• Fixed Xog artifacts with cheaper water

Controller Support

• Xbox Controllers
• Playstation Controllers
• Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers
• We have also implemented proper Gyro support for Steam Deck!

User Interface

• Modified the Game/UI rendering synchronization, aiming for stable UI presentation across all three available modes
• Updated the UI frame limiter logic to enhance the smoothness of frame pacing, which was particularly noticeable when vertical synchronization was active
• Improved performance by optimizing the texture lock implementation within the UI
• Resolved the issue where the UI occasionally failed to render at full size after resolution adjustments
• Fixed alpha blending of UI with background map
• Added a number of missing translators, including the 2012 mod translators (need to track down a list of who did what language)

Bug Fixes

• Interloper A crash fix
• Resolved the issue where the Tau Canon would crash upon the owner's demise
• Addressed a potential hang issue upon exiting the game
• A reflection bug involving Xen fog at extreme angles has been fixed
• Transparency issues in fake water have been resolved, and it now supports New Renderer, New Post-Process, and CSM
• Resolved outline artifacts present in alpha-tested materials
• Resolved an issue where view models were improperly identified within one shader, leading to lighting and shadow inconsistencies
• Fixed a bug related to the Diffuse Warp when using more than eight slots in the atlas
• Fixed a Workshop Client issue related to double initialization, which had the potential to cause crashes

Known Issues

• Alt-Tabbing while using Vulkan can sometimes crash the game
• Anti-virus can sometimes flag the game as malicious even though it is not (well see what we can do about this)
• Minor UI overlap errors on some ultra wide monitors
• Some UI elements need localization

Blue Shift