Valve: 'common sense' to allow Black Mesa and fan remakes

While not officially sanctioned by Valve, the company has made no effort blocking the Black Mesa remake, calling it "common sense" to allow fan-created efforts to thrive.

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Fans have been eagerly awaiting Gordon Freeman's next adventure. While the Half-Life series has been long-dormant, an incredibly talented team of dedicated fans recently released Black Mesa--a remake of the first game created entirely in an updated version of the Source engine. While not officially sanctioned by Valve, the company has made no effort blocking the remake--odd, considering the typical C&D approach taken by other monolithic publishers.

So why is Valve so supportive of fan remakes? "This feels like pretty common sense," Valve's Chet Faliszek said. "Why wouldn't we? I guess you'd have to convince me of the benefits to the other side."

VG247 pointed out that companies are trying to protect their interests, "blocking anything that could tarnish the reputation of their products."

"Well, let's say that Black Mesa Source turned out horrible. It's not going to hurt the original Half-Life," Faliszek responded, as the interviewer noted that the original game still exists even after the release of a fan-remake.

Thankfully, Black Mesa turned out to be not-horrible, with Faliszek praising the remake's "excellent graphics." It also provided the Valve writer an opportunity to revisit the original game, something he hasn't played since working on Half-Life 2: Episode Two--which released back in 2007.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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  • reply
    October 1, 2012 1:00 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Valve: 'common sense' to allow Black Mesa and fan remakes.

    While not officially sanctioned by Valve, the company has made no effort blocking the Black Mesa remake, calling it "common sense" to allow fan-created efforts to thrive.

    • reply
      October 1, 2012 1:07 PM

      [deleted]

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      October 1, 2012 1:15 PM

      Can someone tell Square that?

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        October 1, 2012 1:27 PM

        I think there's a difference there. A remake of chronotrigger will just prove how downhill square has gone, so they have a legitimate reason for blocking it.

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        October 1, 2012 1:28 PM

        They could, but whatever money hating hell the official language of "SquarEnixLand" is they won't actually understand the words coming out of our mouths.

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          October 1, 2012 4:08 PM

          Square is different than Valve. Square has lost their touch with a lot of their IPs. So their only way of making money is selling us back our nostalgia. Valve doesn't have to worry about that.

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      October 1, 2012 1:33 PM

      common sense tells you that the earth is flat and the sun moves around it

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      October 1, 2012 2:47 PM

      [deleted]

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      October 1, 2012 2:49 PM

      valve fucking owns, news at 11

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      October 1, 2012 2:55 PM

      can i make my own Half Life 3 and sell it using the Crytek engine?

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      October 1, 2012 3:53 PM

      fucking sega and your C&D of SORR right as it hit its peak. ugghhhh

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      October 1, 2012 4:53 PM

      I remember tip-toeing around copyright stuff when I worked on Generations Arena. We spent as much time making sure we fell outside the no-no box as we did working on art and code.

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        October 1, 2012 5:32 PM

        [deleted]

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          October 1, 2012 5:48 PM

          That's pretty much exactly what happened. I came on the team not long after it reorganized for Q3 as the community manager.

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        October 1, 2012 5:42 PM

        [deleted]

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          October 1, 2012 5:47 PM

          No, it never finished.

          There were a few releases--and what came out was really fun--but we never felt it was good enough to be considered complete. It was always a beta.

          I'm pretty sure that Phoenix and Reboot and a couple of others are still making updates every now and then (I visit the site once in a while out of nostalgia) but it's nothing to write home about. That ship sailed at least five years ago.

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            October 1, 2012 5:49 PM

            Also, fellow shacker Vorlonesque has contributed to the mod, and more recently than I!

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              October 1, 2012 6:58 PM

              Im still workimg on lightng for it...but its hard to get enough tme to work on anymore.

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                October 1, 2012 7:01 PM

                I typed that on my tablet so its barely readable.

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        October 1, 2012 5:57 PM

        I still remember playing the last version of Generations before they were forced to remove it. God it was fucking awesome

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          October 1, 2012 5:59 PM

          Was? It's still awesome to run around Quake 2 as the Doomguy. :)

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            October 1, 2012 6:03 PM

            I don't have the files anymore and I barely even remember how to RUN mods in Quake 2.

            I think it was -game "foldername"

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              October 1, 2012 6:06 PM

              I could probably get my hands on the zip if I tried, and if you really wanted it.

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      October 1, 2012 5:23 PM

      The typical comeback from the parasite class (attorneys) is :"If we don't protect the IP we'll lose it"

      Its this very issue that the vile worms have structured IP law (and many of aspects of law) to enrich themselves no matter which side they are on.

      90% of attorneys could die today and things would only get better.

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      October 2, 2012 10:39 AM

      Just fucking release HL3 already jesus!

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