In early October, Crowbar Collective returned to their Half-Life remake, Black Mesa, and announced the start of beta testing for a major update. The developers have prepared technical improvements and more for the project.
Black Mesa developers reported that they managed to achieve a significant performance boost across various configurations. Players can expect higher frame rates and “smoother gameplay, especially in demanding areas,” including the world of Xen.
In addition, the creators of Black Mesa introduced improved reflections — Parallax Corrected Cubemaps are used. As the player moves through space, reflections will “shift with the surroundings,” which will allow for a more realistic picture. The user interface has been redesigned (with a focus on controller support) and the lighting system has been improved.
A full description of the Black Mesa beta update is available at the following link. Changes in the current build affected the first five chapters of the project.
Crowbar Collective did not specify how long they plan to conduct testing. The update does not yet have a specific release date or window. You can join the beta through Black Mesa properties in Steam under the beta versions tab — you need to select “public-beta.”