Map of Black Mesa Research Facility

[Darkreaper]

Full Overmaps of the Black Mesa facility and Xen from Half-Life

http://www.2shared.com/photo/uw2nQqak/overview1b.html

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1HLKsL2RXHebnZFNTlobkhlb1E/view?usp=sharing

And Half-Life, Opfor and Blue Shift

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1HLKsL2RXHeVXh1VE9ybUtKNVU/view?usp=sharing

 

and yes, there is a Lot of overlap in some places that dont make any sense

Edited January 12, 2015 by Guest (see edit history)

[Gebohq]

Darkreaper - that is awesome! Did you do that in Photoshop or in another program with using layers? If so, could you provide that file as well? It would be great to be able to dissect parts here and there since there is so much overlap.

 

Also, the original post's 3D overlays are brilliant as well! I wonder if anyone will do this for the Black Mesa mod that just came out.

[Darkreaper]

ya i have it in a psd file. i wanted to add the maps from Half life decay but i cant figure out how they fit together.

Would be nice to make an overmap for Black Mesa Source as well, unfortunately that feature was removed from hl2

[Gebohq]

If I recall, the only maps in Decay that actually connect with other parts or HL, or even each other, are the first two 'chapters' - the rest could take place in arbitrary places, I believe, though I've not played Decay that thoroughly, so I could be wrong.

 

PSD file, woo! Would it be too monstrous of a file to upload with the others?

 

Bummer about Black Mesa source. Sadly, the Black Mesa site only seem to have overlays on their wiki for the Inbound, Surface Tension, and On a Rail chapters.

[Darkreaper]

i found a 3D overmap of what looked like Office complex on the BMS site, but i didnt have the permissions to get a good look at it

there is also this http://monsterandmonster.tumblr.com/post/30795867541/8bitcartographer-years-back-i-decided-to-put

 

I think itd be really neat to make floorplans for the entire facility using a CAD program or something

[Darkreaper]

http://www.2shared.com/photo/FP2mKQVO/overview.html

psd file download with all maps from HL, OF, and BS including Xen

[Gebohq]

Thanks a million! Looks like you threw the first chapter from Decay in there as well - I think it'd be complete with the 2nd chapter, and then just tacking on the other chapters in the empty space like you did with the Xen levels.

 

A 3D map of Black Mesa's Office Complex hidden behind a figurative locked door? Curses!

 

The artistic interpretation of a total map of the facility that you linked is neat stuff as well, and a CAD version of the facility would be fun times too.

 

Also, while I know some of the overlaps are indisputably mistakes (the Inbound chapter alone in the original HL as the train criss-crossing through itself at one point), I hope to figure out if some of the apparent overlaps are just not taking the vertical aspects into account, with and without some interpretation. The guy who provided the 3D maps at the beginning of this thread mentioned that certain areas within elevators and such could be interpreted at arbitrary heights/depths since no hard evidence is given.

[gzaloprgm]

Hi. Inspired by this thread, about a week ago I decided to make a program that displays every HL map.

 

This is what i managed to get so far: http://imgur.com/a/5l4LR#0 ... The idea is to join them automatically using the "info_landmark" entities.

 

I'm getting really nice framerates, it's a shame that the map self-overlaps.

 

If anyone is interested, I might post it sometime.

 

Cheers,

Gonzalo

[Gebohq]

Definitely continue the work and keep updating! If possible, you should try to remove the "rooms" that are obviously just there for "behind-the-scenes" necessity (ex. giant empty room where enemies are stored to be teleported later)

 

What program are you using to do this? You talk about framerates -- are you saying you can walk through it as one giant in-game level?

 

Also, like with Darkreaper's PSD file, would this be something people could look at in parts as they wish in addition to one giant labyrinth of craziness?

[gzaloprgm]

Definitely continue the work and keep updating! If possible, you should try to remove the "rooms" that are obviously just there for "behind-the-scenes" necessity (ex. giant empty room where enemies are stored to be teleported later)

Indeed, I'm searching for an easy way to programmatically detect those rooms (to avoid doing it manually). Also, there is some overlap between adjacent maps (what you see when you change levels in a corridor for example), which causes some zfighting in those areas. I will try to remove those.

 

What program are you using to do this? You talk about framerates -- are you saying you can walk through it as one giant in-game level?

I'm using a self-made program developed in C++, using OpenGL as renderer. Yes, its fully interactive, but with no "collision detection", just like flying with noclip.

 

Cheers,

Gzaloprgm

[Darkreaper]

I think itd be really kewl to build a complete mockup of the entire Black Mesa facility, modifying it to remove the overlaps and filling it out in its entirety so you could actually take a tour of the entire facility before the incident, and maybe during

[Gebohq]

I'm using a self-made program developed in C++, using OpenGL as renderer. Yes, its fully interactive, but with no "collision detection", just like flying with noclip.

Aha, neat! Sounds like it won't be feasible to distribute. Here's hoping that, when you're done, you can make a thorough youtube video on it or something, preferably with a way to see both chunks that don't overlap and building into a final complete map. Regardless, keep it up!

 

I think itd be really kewl to build a complete mockup of the entire Black Mesa facility, modifying it to remove the overlaps and filling it out in its entirety so you could actually take a tour of the entire facility before the incident, and maybe during

It's certainly more plausible to tour during the incident than prior, since a lot more creative effort would have to go into that.

 

As for what would need to be modified, here's what I think any prospective modifier would have to consider:

 

Legitimate (as in nobody could dispute) modifications:

• -Altering the length of any non-specified area (ex. the elevator ride into Office Complex)

 

Understandable (as in disputable and still likely acceptable by most) modifications:

• -Tweaking the size/lengths/shapes of established areas slightly (ex. making the Inbound train ride not overlap itself)
  -Significant change of trivial areas for larger impact (ex. changing the duct path out onto the cliffside in Surface Tension to alievate major overlaps)

 

Risky (as in that it could be considered "too much") modifications:

• -Significant change of major areas (ex. adopting differences made by the Black Mesa mod such as from On A Rail)

 

I'm probably forgetting some things, and I think the major points are covered in any case.

[St. Goliath]

Definitely continue the work and keep updating! If possible, you should try to remove the "rooms" that are obviously just there for "behind-the-scenes" necessity (ex. giant empty room where enemies are stored to be teleported later)

Indeed, I'm searching for an easy way to programmatically detect those rooms (to avoid doing it manually).

AFAIK, the map file formats store a visibillity tree that gives information on which BSP leaves can be seen from an other BSP leave. Because those big empty rooms do not connect to anything, they should not be visible from anywhere. Culling that might be a little more difficult tough, as the big rooms could be split up themselves to nodes that "see" each other and circular visibilities will probably be at other areas of the map too, but in contrast to other areas, the big rooms will generate single isolated circles, not pointing to other circles, I guess.

 

Also, there is some overlap between adjacent maps (what you see when you change levels in a corridor for example), which causes some zfighting in those areas. I will try to remove those.

How about rendering one map (e.g. all even numbered maps) into the sctencil buffer and then, using stencil test, cull away overlapping fragments when rendering the other map (e.g. all odd numbered maps)?

 

I'm using a self-made program developed in C++, using OpenGL as renderer.

Which OpenGL version are you using in your renderer?

[gzaloprgm]

I've uploaded a video: Hl2HbV3UbMs

 

AFAIK, the map file formats store a visibillity tree that gives information on which BSP leaves can be seen from an other BSP leave. Because those big empty rooms do not connect to anything, they should not be visible from anywhere. Culling that might be a little more difficult tough, as the big rooms could be split up themselves to nodes that "see" each other and circular visibilities will probably be at other areas of the map too, but in contrast to other areas, the big rooms will generate single isolated circles, not pointing to other circles, I guess.

Yes, that seems correct and something worth implementing. Most of those boxes seem to be far from the maps themselves, so in the worst case they can be cut manually with some planes.

 

How about rendering one map (e.g. all even numbered maps) into the sctencil buffer and then, using stencil test, cull away overlapping fragments when rendering the other map (e.g. all odd numbered maps)?

That seems feasible, but the problem is that it can't be precalculated only once at loading stage. I'm not sure how well stencil works in modern cards.

 

Which OpenGL version are you using in your renderer?

I'm thinking it's 1.2, I'm not using immediate mode nor shaders, but I use vertex arrays which are only updated once, so they remain static in the GPU.

 

Cheers,

Gzaloprgm

[Gebohq]

I've uploaded a video: Hl2HbV3UbMs

So cool!

 

I realize this is a work in progress, and you're probably aware of it already. On the chance it's not the case, though, it seems (I'm guessing here) that the connection points between the end of Apprehension and the beginning of Residue Processing might be too strict, as even by whole series standards (HL, OpFor, Blue Shift, Decay), the Surface Tension dam area seems too close to the "cluster" of the first half of the HL chapters.

 

Also, do you intend to attempt to do any modifying to 'fix' any of the overlaps (to any of the degrees of modification), or will you be attempting to stay as strictly true to the game as possible (ex. not even using leeway to extend non-specified elevator rides like at the beginning of Office Complex)? Whatever the case, I'm glad those of you who know how to do this stuff are giving it a go!

[Robotgrandma]

just putting it out there i think it would be cool to see mod maps like Azure Sheep and Sweet Half-Life put in there as well just an idea anyway good job

[SuperSniperEagleMan]

That is definatly the BIGGEST AND COOLEST MAP EVA!!!!!!!!

[gzaloprgm]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm glad to announce that I've released my program to explore Black Mesa !

 

You can get it here: http://gzalo.com/halfmapper_en/ (Click "Download Latest Windows binaries", extract it to a folder and read the readme.txt) A Half-Life installation is needed (Steam or Non-Steam should work)

 

Images of each chapter: http://imgur.com/a/WDGAd

 

The early chapters don't overlap much (a single map conversion might be doable) but Surface Tension and Forget about Freeman have awful overlapping.

 

Since I'm not really interested in keeping developing it (some of the code is quite ugly and uncommented) I'm releasing it to the public, executables as well as the source code. I hope you'll like it!

 

Source code for those interested: https://github.com/gzalo/HalfMapper

 

(sorry for the bump)

[Causeless]

It's really interesting to be able to explore the entire facility!

 

Despite the couple of overlaps, Black Mesa seems surprisingly coherent - I would've imagine that the world map overall would've been far less compact than it actually is.

[Darkreaper]

It is rather funny that you cover more distance in the opening sequence of the game, just getting to work than you do over the course of the rest of the game