Author’s Notes: “Clearing a Path is a single player level I created using Half-Life 2: Episode Two. This project took 4 months to complete. For this project I wanted to focus on scripting and exploration.”
Basic Details
- Title: Clearing a Path
- File Name: hl2-ep2-clearing-a-path.7z
- Size : 1.36MB
- Author: Jeff Johnson
- Date Released: 19 August 2008
MapTap Users
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Download Options
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Installation Instructions
- Copy ClearingAPath.bsp into your Half-Life 2: Episode Two Maps folder.
- Launch Half-Life 2: Episode Two
- Open the console and type map ClearingAPath.
- Press enter/return or click the Submit button.
- Play and Enjoy.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots may contain spoilers.
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Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
Please note: These statistics are valid from December 2010
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1,248Overall
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0Today
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4Last 7 days
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10Last 30 days
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64365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 2 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 1 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 9 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 8 Mins by JellyGal
Longest: 0 Hours, 10 Mins by CK_The_Boss
Total Time Played: 0 Hours, 18 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 1 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 9 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 8 Mins by JellyGal
Longest: 0 Hours, 10 Mins by CK_The_Boss
Total Time Played: 0 Hours, 18 Mins
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Jump to a review
This is another nice short map from a Guildhall student. The three simple objectives are always visible on the screen and are updated when you complete them.
The map starts with you inside a building with a group of Rebels and citizens. It’s clear that a sniper is keeping you and the group inside. There are a few different ways to reach him/her.
And so starts a winding route to get where ypu need to. I enjoyed playing this map even though it was pretty short.
If you are looking for something to really keep you playing for a while then this will disappoint. If, on the other hand, you are like me and only have short periods to play, this is perfect.
Get playing.
I *thought* you might like this one, Phillip! 😉 It was short, as you mention, but had several branching ways to get to the end. And make sure you give the catapult a shot!
It played fine for me, very short tho, but I was woundering is it supposed to loop back to the begining after ya finnish?? The cataplut was fun!!
Good ideas done very well to the setting & the objectives are clear.
Played on Normal skill with just the right amount ammo & health I never felt wanting.
Pros : Clean & Clear Objectives
Certain parts offer more replayability route wise
Right amount of Tricks & Balance of enemies & items.
Cons: RPG not really needed with no Gunships to shoot down
Loops Back with no clear ending
Bottom Line : A well formed map with just enough gameplay to satisfy it may be short but its Short & Sweet
Last word : looking forward to 2nd edition as say a 3 to 5 level sourcemod possiblely? 🙂
I just downloaded, I have A.I. disabled. Could someone please remind me how to enable A.I.
Thanks
Open the console and type ai_disable 0
Well, I played this, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to be rather critical. But I did have a bit of fun. The sentry guns in the sewer kept me entertained killing the zombies for a good five minutes After all, who doesn’t like friendly sentry guns? Also, the fact that the map can be approached in slightly different ways is a commendable effort.
But largely I was disappointed. There really isn’t much scripting to speak of – it’s functional as a level, but there’s nothing fancy or different about it. The different paths are present but are largely superflous – they don’t really change the gameplay.
The exploration factor could have been great – but what spoils that for me is the architecture. It’s … in a word … square. Square city. Square Buildings. A square sewer! And the lighting is very plain and generic throughout. There are no eye-catching lights or shadows. It’s not pretty enough to enjoy looking around it.
The texturing is mostly “ok” but there are a few places where it is poor, and sticks out quite badly.
The three above points lead me onto a question. Why is this an EP2 map? The only difference that EP2 has made to this map, is that it runs at a slightly lower framerate than it would have in regular Half Life 2.
The objectives didn’t inspire me. Kill a sniper (who needs his firing rate turning up BTW) and press two buttons. I think that if a map is going to be this short – at least the objectives should be something a bit more imaginative. There are a lot of friendly npcs – and yet none of them do anything interesting. They should be used to make the different paths through the level more interesting and unique.
There were too many enemy soldiers that don’t fight as well as they should. Several of them seemed rooted to the spot – too terrified to move. Others seemed to get confused a lot, which suggests an upgrade of the node graphing is needed.
Speaking of node graphing, it really bugs me when authors don’t distribute their node graphs. I don’t like seeing “Node Graph out of date – Rebuilding” when I first start the map. Just include the AIN files in the map download and I’ll be a lot happier.
The catapult – if by that you mean the mystical metal plate that propels you across the street – well that’s pretty bad. It doesn’t even move. There isn’t any reasonable explanation for its presence in the first place either. And the func_tracktrain is set too slow – it’s the first catapult I’ve ever seen that makes you gently glide somewhere. It doesn’t qualify for the name “catapult” in my book. Maybe “anti-grav plate”.
So in summary, this is a very short map with some small redeeming features, but generally I thought it was very unpolished and not very interesting. The gameplay might well be enjoyable to some people – and because of this I am rating the map “Consider It”.
Chris Fox’s review is spot-on and I agree with his detail and overall assessments, although I may not have been so critical of the architecture. For me the map goes nowhere and what we have would have made a good beginning to a mod, but in isolation it’s all a bit pointless. However the author is not short of ideas and maybe this could be the start of something good even though history tells us that this is more likely to be a one-off.
It’s a fun map since it gives you multiple ways of getting where you want and you want to achieve + a few ways more than you would think.
Other than that nothing much in terms of architecture, enemy placement etc.
It has more to do than a regular run-and-gun map as you are given three objectives and you can complete them in any order you like. The level design reminded me of Call of Duty with open buildings lining each side of the street. However, as Chris mentioned, the level design is not particularly attractive and the enemy AI seems pretty dumb.
It seems like a very good start as it has more than just the basics but further experience and polish would make this much more enjoyable.
Pretty good level to get in and get out of quickly. Not much replayability, but that’s ok, it doesn’t need it. I look forward to playing more from the author.
When I got to the end it looped on me, so I reloaded. As soon as I finished my last objective (again), “you win” flashed very briefly on the screen.
I thought catapult was a fine word… My first time on it I didn’t know what it was and I was bashed into the far side of the street. It isn’t needed, but it adds a bit of fun to the map.
As soon as I finally moved the turrets to take care of the respawning zombies, they quit spawning. I probably could have gotten more use out of them if I’d used them sooner…
I hope it is the beginning of more maps by the author. It was fun–how could it not be with friendly turrets, a sniper to take out, and the catapult?
Now THIS is what a <5M map should be like! So many options, paths and routes to take, you can always find different ways to complete the objectives each time you played. If you are making a very short map, make it as fun as this.
Just because I'm bored here some bonus objectives that I made up.
.Conqueror of the Underworld- kill all zombies in the sewers.
.I came in like a Wrecking Ball- use the flap propeller device to surprise the Combine.
.This street's too small for the two of us- kill the sniper with the crossbow.
Using Gauge
Medium
10 Minutes
Wow, what a great little map! The visuals are very good, they look a lot like Episode One. I also very much like the gameplay, there’s a lot of exploration involved and the combat, while a little on the easy side, is very fun and well done. It also has a lot of gunfire noise in the background and a lot going on, so it really does feel like Episode One’s Urban Flight chapter. The one thing I don’t like is the obvious invisible wall, that trench needed to be a bit bigger. I know this is minor, but I also liked that all three objectives are always onscreen, as opposed to in some maps where it flashes onscreen for a second and you don’t get to read it very well. Good job Jeff, this is a very enjoyable map and I recommend it to everybody.
Manually
Medium
8 Minutes
Short city map. The sniper must be nearsighted or something. The map itself lets you get thru it in different ways: different paths to take, different strategy to use, I’d think it would be a lot more interesting if it was a bigger map that offers more strategical options to complete objectives.
I really enjoyed this. Played it twice in fact! The routes through are quite well done and the map design is interesting, if rather small. It was good being able to sneak underground. I setup the turrets and then went to wake up the grenade zombies for a laugh. It was fun seeing them rip through the zombie hoard!
I didn’t like how the map just BAM ended. That was a shame. Great map though, just wish it was much bigger.