Machienzo's NeoDomain

Well, after about a year of loyalty to my 'freely customisable' BlogSpot Blog, I've finally decided to finish it and move to here permanently. You might have noticed that my very first Blog Entry here had me wondering whether I'd be able to live with both or not. The truth is, that it was really a big hassle to take care of. I was always feeling obligated to post there, and at times really drain my feelings. The only problem was that since it was really such an empty place to do so, no body would ever notice, which kind of defeats the point of a blog if you ask me. So in other words, this will now be my sacred ground. I'll be posting here in my NeoBlog what I'd normally post in my old blog. Also, you may have noticed that small exert (quote) up top. I've decided that from time to time-to-time I'll be starting off entries with a quote of sorts. Mostly from my vast array of interests which span over games, movies, tv and books (Expect more Metal Gear ones). Kudos to whoever can guess where they come from. Make a game out of it. First one wins.

I'm also thinking that at least every week I'll have some sort of "Machi's Pick of the Week" or something. For example, today I'm going to tell you guys about Black Mesa Source



What is it exactly? Well, as the team of the project have said:

quote Black Mesa Source Project Team

Black Mesa (formerly Black Mesa: Source) is a Half-Life 2 total conversion remaking VALVe Software's award-winning PC game, Half-Life. Utilizing the Source engine, Black Mesa will reintroduce the player as Doctor Gordon Freeman, along with the original cast of memorable characters and environments seen in Half-Life. Black Mesa was built and founded on the basis that Half-Life: Source was inadequate as the Source engine port of Half-Life, regardless of the intentions of VALVe Software. As such, Black Mesa was founded to fully reconstruct the Half-Life universe utilizing Source to its fullest potential in terms of art detail, level sizes and code features. This total conversion will not require Half-Life: Source to play - only a copy of any Source Engine game installed on Steam.

For those who haven't heard of Half Life before, I suggest you consult Wikipedia. Anyway, I believe that this project has been in development for several years now, and there are hopes that the finalisation of it is set for sometime this year. I myself have not fully played the original Half Life before, but I have however played Half-Life 2, Episode 1 and Episode 2. All I can say is that they should be considered an art-form. I mean really, I've gotten so sucked into those games that I was even having difficulty being able to distinguish fiction from reality. Mind you, outside of the game, not the actual game itself. To simplify, I started feeling really disoriented, and then started to really connect with the characters of the game, even considered them more than just animated characters. Now I really am not that much of an impressionable mind. I mean, I play load of GTA, hell I even comprehensively analyse the storyline and whatnot, yet you don't see me running amok out there with a gun in my hand and the game in my mind. You see? Half Life is just that good. I would rate it as one of my top 5 favourite series of all-time. Of all-time! Meaning that I pledge allegiance to the favouritism of it the rest of my life. No wait, that sounded a bit tacky. It's just that good a game. I suggest for those who've never heard of it before, do what you can to become acquainted with it. Hell, if you can't play it yourself, got to a friends house, go to a internet gaming compound, steal it for gods sake. Just play it and you'll see what I mean.

Oh, now looking back, I've just rambled on about Half Life 2 instead of Black Mesa Source. Well, I guess I'll just finish this off with letting you guys listen to this song, available for download from the Black Mesa Source Website. It is part of the Soundtrack for the project, entitled "End Credits (Part 2)".