Being Imprisoned in Venice is the least of your worries…
Gordon attempts his escape from the dark prisons, as he travels a brief part of the Italian city, and attempts to escape the heavily guarded combine outpost.
Wake up Dr. Freeman
Basic Details
- Title: A Venetian Welcome
- File Name: hl2-sp-a-venetian-welcome.7z
- Size : 14.27MB
- Author: Church
- Date Released: 07 January 2012
Notes
This map was entered into GameBanana’s HL1/2 Short but Sweet mapping competition. It came first.
MapTap Users
Download directly into MapTap [14.3MB]
You MUST have MapTap installed before using this link.
Download Options
You can still use it with MapTap once you have downloaded it.
Manual Installation Instructions
- Copy A_Venetian_Welcome.bsp into your Half-Life 2 Maps folder.
- Launch Half-Life 2
- Open the console and type map A_Venetian_Welcome.
- Press enter/return or click the Submit button.
- Play and Enjoy.
If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 800 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
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Reader Recommendations
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 10 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 9 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 21 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 5 Mins by
Longest: 0 Hours, 30 Mins by Dirk
Total Time Played: 3 Hours, 28 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 9 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 21 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 5 Mins by
Longest: 0 Hours, 30 Mins by Dirk
Total Time Played: 3 Hours, 28 Mins
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Jump to a review
It’s easy to see why this won. It’s a great map to play and generally looks good too. That said, there are lots of issues with it. Too many invisible walls, enemies that appear in front of you, enemies that ignore you.
I’m not sure if this is a case of wisdom after the fact but it seems clear that the mapper normally makes CSS makes. The reason I say that is because the layout feels as though it were made for an MP map and you get the feeling the author doesn’t really get into the mind set of an SP player.
For example, he leaves large crates around, right next to a fence. That to any SP player is like honey to bees. I’m there! I’ll stack those boxes up and try to get over the fence. Why else would the mapper have put them there, right? Wrong.
Next, you see an enemy in a particular location and you then think “Mmmm, what’s up there? Maybe some ammo”. and off you go trying to get it.
Lastly, twice I stood behind a soldier and he was unaware of my presence. More work need to be done of the AI in this case or at least the location of the enemy.
Anyway, enough about the lacking points, what about the good points? Well, it’s incredibly fun to play and there are lots of places to explore.
I’m still not sure what the rocket launcher is for but I suppose it kills Combine soldiers as well as shooting down helicopters and gunships!
Definitely worth your time and effort. Go play it.
5 Word Review
Positive only JUST outweigh negatives
Oh, good to see this. I’ve been dreaming of Venetian Half-Life2 map for quite some time. Although I’d like a Venetian map to show more canals, more action going in the canals, here we have streets and houses, the canals are mostly decorative.
Still, it’s a nice map with original architecture and non-linear layout, which you need to explore. It’s a challenging puzzle. I got lost. One time I jumped over the fence only to realize that I’m out of the map and use sv_gravity to get back.
Then I noticed a springboard in the canal, I jumped from it and found the ending of the level. After that I thought that it is probably supposed to have an airboat, looked back, didn’t notice any place where it could possibly be, and stopped looking. Screenshot shows that there’s indeed an airboat, so looks like I missed some airboat action.
Despite the confusing layout and too much invisible walls, this map is interesting, original and worth playing.
I recommend you to play the CSS Hardwire HL2 mod, is great and u can play variety of maps includded a really cool Venetian map there.
Thanks for the recommendation, but the ModDB page says that it requires Counter-Strike: Source, and I don’t have it because I’m not interested in Counter-Strike.
Why would you go to ModDB, when everything you need is right here!
It’s been a while but I think the latest version has managed to bypass the need to own CSS. Give it a try, it’s amazing.
I visited the PlanetPhillip page and the author’s site, but didn’t find any mentions of this. They say that it requires CS:S, too.
A little too easy but it was fun all the same, too much available ammo and some pretty dumb enemies!
I didn’t realise until after I’d played this that it was part of a competition, knowing that now, I would tend to think if the author had not been working to a deadline and spent more time on the map it could have been a really excellent map. That said as it is an enjoyable offering and a fun 20 minutes play and it looked quite good to my non-mappers eye.
As my (legal) copy of HL2 no longer works I ran under EP2 and it ran fine.
What? You mean Legal -> Non-Steam? 🙂
I have Half-Life 2 Non-Steam and I got Steam Accounts too.
Can I copy the map (Steam directory) to my HL2 Non-Steam directory map?
Some positives and negatives for me. On the positive front, the setting of the map was fantastic and it looked great. It was really fun to be exploring around the canals while you battle the combine. On the downside I had some issues with strange shadows at the beginning, and the author’s initial choice of music didn’t seem to match the gameplay. I also was disappointed at the very simple ending. I don’t know why the rocket launcher was included because I didn’t see any aircraft to shoot down. Overall though it was pretty good and I would say it is a “Play It Later”
Also, you can’t really explore the water much with the airboat as there is an “ugh” invisible wall stopping you from going in one direction
The link to this page through the thumbnail is broken.
I liked the thematic real style of that italian venice ville, the whole map is fun and you can see the strong influences of the maper related to CSS on this map, feels like that, the combat is fair but I really missed some helicopters or gunship to chase my ass there. I really never had to use the RPG and maybe if some APC would have appeared that would be excellent for that open and really poorly defended open plaza.
Overall I felt the gameplay kind of sttutered it could have been so much dynamic as is in the Hardwire mod, and the crosbow adition make u can choose betwen a hit and run close battle with the AR2 and the SMG or a long sthealth sniper mission is matter of taste I preffer snipe and hit and run depending of the combat context.
I definitely can say that in comparative terms I enjoyed diversion much more than this one, altough is a great map, located in a kind of real scenario, and I hope to see and play more maps and mods located in realistic scenarios, in realistic military missions.
I dont think anyone will regret playing this piece, its not bad at all. being a competition map I try not to be too critical or harsh on things like invisible walls etc keeping in mind the build time and restraints, however I did find a number of ways to fall out of the map, I even took an airboat out of the map with me using the ramp in the canal just in front of the airboat garage. as stated the rpg doesn’t have any normal use IE: gunships, helios etc etc but its ok to blast some combine. I did notice after finishing and returning to the console screen the game put you in godmode, maybe that was just for the exploding barrel ending. This was a nice play but IMO “Diversion map” was a much better play.
My first impression of this map was not good. Freeman begins his mission trapped in a Combine prison cell, however the Combine are apparently unaware of the human ability to jump on boxes. The mapping in this area was a mismatch of different styles, and didn’t feel like somewhere that would ever exist in the real world. For example, why would the door keypad be located under a staircase in an adjoining, zombie infested room? This kind of level design also leaves the player confused as to what they are supposed to do.
However, things change once we emerge in to the titular Venice city. The area looks pretty good, and allows for some varied non-linear combat where the map really shines. Another good point is that there is lots of room for exploration and the player is able to access all the the areas in which soldiers are stationed in buildings. However after the fighting died down I found myself struggling to find the way to go next, as it is marked only by a single door tucked away in a corner. The finishing set-piece [spoiler]with the airboat[/spoiler] should have been good, but it broke twice forcing me to use cheats. The experience was also marred by several lighting glitches and a poor choice of opening music, issues which may have been the result of the competition deadline.
This map would have been far more enjoyable with more testing but still has some good combat.
Gameplay was sometimes a bit “strange” as mentioned before, although overall its fun. As a visual treat alone, this map gets a Play It Now.
Not the Venice I know, but hey..the gameplay was fun and well-sequenced, and overall just a great run through. Play this on hard else it’s too easy. It’s not hard anyway, truth be told.
basically the map is not bad…. but its not much fun either. Its buggy, ugly and lack some playtesting. I can’t really understand the 5 star reviews and can’t really recommend this map. But well, its short, maximum 15 Minutes of your time, so “Maybe” check it outt, if you wish…
Pretty and fun. A good way to spend fifteen minutes, but there’s nothing that really stands out.
Manually
Medium
15 Minutes
This map is just fun to play and not difficult. Sometimes you need to relax and not blow a gasket running around frenetically. No problems except some “battenburg” blocks where the sky should be.
Manually
Medium
30 Minutes
I gave it personal favourite because in my opinion there need to be more maps like this. Once you get through the initial prison break segment you can go wherever the heck you want. Yes, it has flaws, but I personally feel that positives WAY outdo the negatives. It’s nonlinear, it’s visually stunning and it’s VERY fun to play.
The first segment is a simple prison break. There’s some “find a thing” puzzles but they’re easy. It’s fun but very brief
When you get outside is when the magic starts. There are tons of places to explore, find stuff and kill Combine/zombies. That’s another thing it does well, blending enemy types. With all the different buildings with both Combine and zombies in them there’s never a dull moment. It has a perfect amount of variety. The final escape is also very cool, especially since you don’t have to leave right away and can ‘splore the city with the airboat.
If I have to nitpick something, I’d say it’s a bit too easy to beat but still there’s so much stuff packed in that I didn’t notice the first time (I played it twice so I could find everything). This also works great as both SP and DM, or even possibly a Garry’s Mod roleplaying map.
I highly recommend you play this. It’s nonlinear, has tons of of variety and is super fun.
Manually
Medium
20 Minutes
O_O
This map takes place in Venice, where you must escape the prison and the city.
The textures were AMAZING. It felt like I am in Venice, and not some other crap city with the same texture on buildings.
The enemies were variable. There were even zombies, which I think is really weird.
Anyway, PLAY THIS THING NOW DAMMIT!!!
Great fun little map! Not too difficult, a nice balance of puzzle vs action. The only criticism I would make is that I was able to end the game (accidentally!) by just walking out on foot rather than by the specially-provided means.
Manually
Medium
20 Minutes
When I started out this map, I thought that it would easily get a ‘Play It Now!’ recommendation. But now that I’ve played through the whole thing, it only gets a ‘Maybe’ from me. It’s a shame really, as the map starts out really promisingly. You’re in a Venetian jail, trying to escape, you climb out of your cell doing some typical HL parkour, you grab your suit and off you go! The first section in the jail for me is easily the best part of this map. It’s certainly not as pretty as the rest of the map but it’s where I had the most fun. But the outdoor segment (which takes up the majority of your time playing ‘A Venetian Welcome’) was an absolute pain and somewhat confusing to navigate. The map goes from being a nice linear style of play with a few diverging paths to keep things interesting to a wide open area that made me, for some time, lost. For example, there’s a particular section in a bar which makes it look like the direction you have to go, climbing up things and what have you, but nope! Turns out there’s a door you have to go in WAY over to the right of the bar that is partially obscured and out of sight. Not only that, but the end segment took me a few attempts to beat even while playing on easy due to the sheer number of enemies. The ending of the map was also very abrupt, so much so that it made me let out an audible ‘Oh’. Couple all that with glitchy looking water, some poor looking textures in some areas, occasionally bad AI and unfortunately ‘A Venetian Welcome’, despite it’s initial promise, ends up just being OK at best.
Manually
Easy
30 Minutes
I have to agree with others like JellyBeanDude27 because this, for me, is just a breath of fresh air. I loved it’s almost dm style environment, even though I don’t play those deathmatch games! It works here as the enemy are cunningly placed. I also loved how I could climb and explore, even though this small map doesn’t really lead anywhere as such. The potential is here for something much greater, I feel.
The start was interesting, I liked how I could get the suit etc… but the jail scenes was a little silly so I thought I wasn’t going to like this much. But it really kicks in afterwards with everything I enjoyed. I loved how the water ride work, kinda quirky but fun. However, it’s here that I didn’t like the invisible walls… That ending… lol brilliant.
Technically, I imagine many can/have picked this apart and rightly so. But for what it is, this is a superb map and I had tons of fun. It’s staying on the hard drive. Gonna have another game now…
Manually
Medium
30 Minutes
Pretty great map overall. Good combat, a great atmosphere and well-made environment, and ends with a pretty fun, if short, sequence on an airboat.
Definitely worth checking out.
Manually
Easy
30 Minutes
The external architecture is good progression is for me quite forward, nearly no puzzle and mostly combat oriented… quite an abrupt ending while the use of the airboat was interesting
Misses for me a storyline and also through the fact that the architecture was quite interesting it could have been use in a more constructive way to build the gameplay.
The use of invisible walls to limit you progression is also something I don’t really like 🙁
Using Gauge
Medium
18 Minutes
Overall a great map. Looks great. Plays great. There are several versions of this map floating around. This is the best. Personal favorite.
Manually
Easy
10 Minutes