Since then, a new forum site has been launched and regained most of its former followers. According to the project leader, they were not aware of the team member that had assisted in the hack.
On December 4, 2008, the old forum website was shut down due to hackers. Similar to the drive of Black Mesa's Crowbar Collective, the team is pushing Valve's Source Engine to the limit with dynamic lighting, complex enemy AI and expansive additions to the original levels. The project has grown considerably since then, with a dedicated development team of over 20 programmers, 3D model and texture artists, map designers and vocal performers. They began development in September 2007, one month before the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two. The Valve Corporation originally had plans to port Half-Life: Opposing Force into the Source engine (announced at E3 2004) much like they did with Half-Life: Source, but after an underwhelming first look at the project, the creators of Operation: Black Mesa decided to pursue their own remaster of the game, built from the ground up.
