The Real World Brands of Half-Life 2 by Jason Gimba

Half-Life 2 has a lot of props, from benches in the train station to Chinese take-out boxes. As a mapper, you become familiar with them over time and develop a mental index of the different models, names, sizes and your own practices for how and when you use them.

One thing I’ve noticed is that some of the textures on these props are based on real world brands. Sometimes Valve altered them, such as the detergent bottles of “606” (instead of Formula 409), but some escaped that treatment or may have been left intentionally. Because we can zoom so closely to the props in Hammer Editor, we can view some of these details that are difficult to see in-game.

Let’s take a look at some of them!


4th May 2015 11 Comments

CrossoverVille 2 – Map Labs #18

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

CrossoverVille 2, in partnership with Map Labs as usual, is the sequel to 2015’s CrossoverVille. While the original asked mappers to merge Half-Life with another game, CrossoverVille 2 was more wide open, allowing entrants to cross over to any other form of media in their maps.

This is the second challenge of three in the Hammer Cup 2022.

As always, if you’re interested in learning more about Map Labs and maybe even participate in their upcoming challenges, visit the Map Labs Discord.

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Total Downloads: 2,1319th May 2022
11 Comments and 6 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"

DeceptionVille – Map Labs Test Tube #17

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Out of the grave comes this never-used Ville theme! Once again I’m glad to partner with Map Labs to bring these new mapping challenges to life.

Here is DeceptionVille, where the mappers were challenged to make a map wherein something isn’t what it first seems.

This is the first challenge of three in the Hammer Cup 2022 – stay tuned to see the standings and the results of the next 2 challenges!

As always, if you’re interested in learning more about Map Labs and maybe even participate in their upcoming challenges, visit the Map Labs Discord.

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Total Downloads: 2,35023rd March 2022
20 Comments and 6 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"

PhaseVille

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Video games always feature various styles of gameplay. In this challenge we asked mappers to create a map that flowed through 3 phases. See the Theme Details section below for full details.

The resulting maps range from average to fantastic and the different interpretations of each phase is fascinating.

Get ready to play through 15 new maps!

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Total Downloads: 5,98013th October 2018
32 Comments and 10 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"

BossVille

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

You are about to fight against the meanest, smartest and cruelest bosses in Ville history.

Only the strongest will survive. Will you be one of them?

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Total Downloads: 4,33411th August 2018
21 Comments and 11 recommendations, most really enjoyed it!

NostalgiaVille

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Half-Life 2 has been around for longer than 13 years, but many will agree that the game has still not lost its charm. However, as Episode 1 and 2 came out, people switched their focus to the new environments and gameplay that were introduced.

NostalgiaVille seeks to balance out the scale by re-introducing the classic environments of Half-Life 2 in the modern day.

Play through 8 official entries and 1 bonus map in this special 2018 mapping challenge.

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Total Downloads: 11,49515th July 2018
39 Comments and 15 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"

Special Challenge – NostalgiaVille

Half-Life 2 has been around for longer than 13 years, but many will agree that the game has still not lost its charm. However, as Episode 1 and 2 came out, people switched their focus to the new environments and gameplay that were introduced. NostalgiaVille seeks to balance out the scale by re-introducing the classic environments of Half-Life 2 in the modern day.

In this challenge, you are given 2 months to create a level set in the early chapters of Half-Life 2 (think City 17 up to and including the Coast, however we find that the City and Canal sections in their pre-Uprising state are the least prominent within usual challenge entries). Don’t feel pressured to work for the whole 2 months, as that would mean a high risk of burning out, but consider the possibilities for the scope and scale of your entry.

A big focus of NostalgiaVille is, well, Nostalgia. The player should be reminded of the time when they first played Half-Life 2, and levels should, to some degree, feel familiar. So feel free to include HL2 Easter eggs, references, and maybe even altered segments of the original chapters in your entries. However, with time, technology and level design practices have improved.

We would like the early Half-Life 2 environments to be used and a level of familiarity in the level design to be kept, but gameplay can be either similar to the way it was in the original game or changed to add new concepts into the old environments, thus combining the new and old in your entry. Keep in mind that even if your map follows the same ideas from the environments in Half-Life 2, it should be polished and up-to-date with modern standards in other design aspects.

Deadline

The deadline for submission is 11pm UTC Sunday 24th June 2018

Prizes

The top 3 entrants will win cash prizes as follows, all paid via PayPal:

  • First place: $300
  • Second place: $200
  • Third place: $100

27th April 2018 26 Comments

The Hammer Cup 2017 Overview

Hello and welcome to 2017!

I am very pleased to announce that RTSL will be running another Single Player Source Mapping Challenge Event and this post explains everything you need to know.

Instead of assuming everybody reading this knows all about The Hammer Cup, I will start by explaining it. And move onto the details.


4th January 2017 17 Comments

Precinct 17

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

“Barney has been abducted from a rebel surveillance post overlooking the infamous Precinct 17, a former police station repurposed by the Combine.

It’s up to Gordon Freeman to find out what happened to his friend.”

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Total Downloads: 6,27423rd October 2016
42 Comments and 33 recommendations, most say "Play It Now!"