A town close to yours has been shelled a while ago. The Combine have settled there, with a small base. Such a small base doesn’t seem harmful, but you think something else is going on.
Led by curiosity, you make your way into the town…
This is my first map so any feedback is appreciated.
Many thanks to Strontvlieg, Lyren and Spoops for playtesting.
Basic Details
- Title: Dark Intervention
- Filename: hl2-ep2-sp-darkintervention.7z
- Size : 4.7 MB
- Author: DeanAmythe
- Date Released: 01 February 2019
Download Options
You can still use it with Gauge once you have downloaded it.
Manual Installation Instructions
If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.
- Copy the maps folder into your …\Steam\SteamApps\common\Half-Life 2\ep2\ folder.
- Launch Half-Life 2: Episode Two
- Open the console and type map dark_intervention and now press ENTER.
Screenshots
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
1600 x 900
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Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
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1,544Overall
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1Today
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2Last 7 days
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14Last 30 days
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123365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 13 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 12 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 13 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 6 Mins by ZippyS2
Longest: 0 Hours, 20 Mins by Xaplomian
Total Time Played: 2 Hours, 48 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 12 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 13 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 6 Mins by ZippyS2
Longest: 0 Hours, 20 Mins by Xaplomian
Total Time Played: 2 Hours, 48 Mins
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Jump to a review
Well I didn’t know what to expect going in, but here we have a decent map with a mix of combat and minor puzzles. It might be worth a play, check it out if you’re looking for a 10-15 minute map to play.
So in general this has the makings of a really solid map. But being a first map, it had weak points. First, the lighting is just too dark overall. I had my flashlight on just about the entire playthrough. Visually this map needs a detailing pass, with attention to lighting and to texturing.
The combat is okay in some areas but questionable in others. There are a couple areas where it’s not clear whatsoever where to go. The path forward doesn’t need to be paved with yellow bricks but generally you need to guide the player, often subtly. But leaving the big open area, I was totally lost as to where to go. That big open courtyard (which you backtrack to, which was good) didn’t really have much reason to be that big and open. My advice would be to plan your areas, especially those you backtrack to, to have more to do – not just combat necessarily, but places to explore or just even reasons to exist.
This was decent for a first map, no doubt. I liked the overall backtracking design, and hopefully the author takes the feedback in stride and applies it to future maps.
Manually
Medium
15 Minutes
This may be a first map but the author already knows how to implement basic gameplay correctly; there’s no kitchen sink combat and no crippling lack of health and batteries. The environment is indeed quite dark – especially outside – but personally I quickly found out where to go due to correctly placed lighting and wires. The map relies heavily on combat but it never gets too difficult and is being broken up a bit by a small electrified water puzzle. It took me a few seconds to realize I had to backtrack after disabling the generator, but additional enemies on the way back quickly indicated I was progressing correctly.
I’d say this is one of the better ‘first maps’ by far and I’d recommend you keep this map in mind for a playthrough!
Manually
Medium
15 Minutes
I don’t know what’s going on there, twice I’ve followed the above instructions, even just moving the BSP into HL2 EP 2 maps folder…but still it doesn’t load or even show on the maps list when I type maps * into the consul, I wonder what’s wrong ? bound to be me…
I don’t know what to tell you, it sounds like you’ve done it right. Double check that the bsp is inside the maps folder under Half-Life 2\ep2. That should be it.
cheers, I finally got it to work, but only after literally opening a couple of folders, dragging the bsp out to the desktop and then dragging it into the correct folder, it won’t do it automatically, kept going to the wrong location, hey ho, done now..
I enjoyed the map very much and this is one of the best ‘first maps’ I’ve seen. As mentioned above, the gameplay is this maps strong suit, while at the same time I agree with everything Unq said about lighting and subtle hints about where to go (but the latter wasn’t bad). Really looking forward to the next map after such a strong first one.
Manually
Medium
15 Minutes
The map started out nice, setting the mood just right with lots of neat shadows and little lighting, giving off almost stealth-y vibes. As far as the design goes, there’s nothing wrong with it: nicely foreshadowing the route ahead, backtracking, all very neat. The visuals are underwhelming but that doesn’t matter as much since the gameplay makes up for it. It’s short, but if this is indeed the author’s first map, they are to be applauded. Some parts are confusing, with buttons placed in ways that don’t immediately show their effect or with useable doors without handles or vice versa, but overall, it’s cool.
Certainly lots of potential here. I played most of it on hard and got all the way till the final fight, with only 9 health remaining, I had to switch to normal and in the end to easy to survive – I didn’t pay attention but it seemed to me as if the enemies weren’t properly grouped in squads, since more than two fired at the same time.
Either way, it’s very impressive for a first time work and certainly worth the 15-20 I spent on playing it.
Manually
Hard
18 Minutes
Whenever I launched the map for the time, I thought “Well this is moody, I like it.” The atmosphere was nice and starting area had sweet realistic detailing. However, I felt some textures felt out of place or did not connect to each other very well. Seeing combines from the cracks and windows was a nice touch, as you had no guns to defeat them and it gave this mysterious feel to the map.
After looking through the nice details of the courtyard, I started getting a little bored looking through the way where I had to go, and when I finally found what I need, I was a little bit disappointed, thinking I should’ve solved a puzzle instead, but it was just unclear where you actually have to go. The second house, the longest part of the mod, had some nice detailing but the rooms were probably slightly too small for my tasting, with the exception of the last room which was, beautiful.
I get that games and mods get harder whenever you progress, but in this particular mod I felt like the difference between the indoors fights and outdoor fight was way too big; it felt like the main fight was 2-3 times harder than any other part of the mod. I played this mod with easy and hard, but I noticed the same problem. However, I liked the way you were supposed to kill the NPCs indoors, all the props made their job.
Well what can I say, there’s not that much to say about to be fairly honest. As I mentioned earlier, the atmosphere was moody and mysterious, but. If something’s mysterious, there’s a mystery or a thing you do not understand. In Dark Invention, I have no idea who was who as there was no characters, no dialogs, and even though the final scene was nice looking, I have no idea… why it happened.
– So overall, I liked playing it through. The major flaw was the lack of a concept/story, and the strong point was detailing. I have to say “great job” for making a first map to be as good as this, you have to have some talent.
Manually
Easy
15 Minutes
This is definitely one of the best first maps I’ve ever seen, and I really appreciate this kind of effort especially after 12 years since the original game came out. The mapping and the architecture are really good, although a bit blocky sometimes. The combat was enjoyable, but sometimes I felt like there could have been more enemies (mainly in the backtracking part). The challenge the map presented was fair, without any major difficulty spikes. Lastly, the puzzles in this map, while not a lot, were really pleasant and some of them are way harder to create than to solve, so kudos to the maker for these.
My biggest problem was the lighting; the map was way too dark at times and I couldn’t see where I was going without the flashlight being constantly on. Like I’ve mentioned before, while the mapping was mostly great at times, some parts looked really simplistic and didn’t have a lot of detail to them. Also, the ending could have been a bit better in my opinion, there was no need to make it so “mysterious”.
Overall, this was a really fun 10-15 minute map that has its flaws, but still is worth your time. It really looks like the creator has put a lot of time and work to it, and I would say that it was definitely worth it. If you see this, then you should know that you have a lot of potential to become a great mapper.
This maybe your first map but i very enjoyed the map. This was good map put all effort to it, but one problem here is the lightning was too dark i couldn’t see some area. But overall late combat was good and i like the ending.
Good luck for your next map i gonna look forward it..
Manually
Medium
6 Minutes
The level design was nothing special but it was okay.
I think the map was pretty average
Manually
Medium
8 Minutes
I’m in the hazardous course map in Companion Piece, and when I get all the batteries into the
power rack near the gate, the NPC runs through it with no problem, but I cannot. The gate is open,
but the game will not let me pass through it.
If I use noclip, it will let me through, but I try to recall the NPC but he just stands in the short tunnel
after the gate, not moving.
I’m suspecting it may be the ‘sv_cheats 1’ I’m using, but I’ll try it again.
Thanks.
Oops my post said the map hazardous course is the 2nd map, it’s the 3rd.
Thanks….
Maybe you mean Hazardous Route? I don’t know how to solve your problem, but all people who play my map can go through the gates.
Hi! The creator of Dark Intervention here.
I’m currently working on an update for this map, which aims to fix as many issues as possible.
– The visuals will be changed the most. The map will have more detail and visual effects. A 3D skybox will also be added.
– Improved lighting.
– Gameplay will largely remains the same, but a few changes and also a few extra areas will be added.
– Improvements to player direction.
– Many small fixes and adjustments.
If this update is finished and comes out, I recommend giving this map a play again. Issues that you might have had will most likely not be present anymore.
In principle, not bad. Mapping I do not really like it, too much like boxes, and you can still say that the map is too dark. The gameplay is made interesting, play is not boring.
For the first map is not bad.
Manually
Medium
15 Minutes
All the issues you listed are fixed in the updated version I’m working on.
Recommend playing this map when that’s out, so you can have a good experience without these issues.
Map Design was nothing special and too dark. But for first map not bad.
Manually
Medium
10 Minutes
Really good but the map has flaws. As for me, the map is very dark and it repels, and it seems to me on the map well, very lacking ambiet sounds. Mapping is not very well done and it seems to me that the texture you picked up is not very good, overall I liked the map.
Manually
Medium
10 Minutes
I hear this is a first map which is impressive with an overall idea which I could see working well. But I found it felt too staged using a design that’s spread out too much, if that makes sense? The soldiers didn’t have much AI and just stood there until I started to hit ’em…
Okay, it’s supposed to be dark but it’s boringly dark – and far too dark. I also had weird graphical effects for cars, doors, etc… Hard to explain but it was like a bright bloom effect. Very odd.
I think this mapper had a great start though and I hope he continues on to bigger and better things. I’d like to see more.
Could you try explaining that “bright bloom effect” a bit more?
The map was very dark, which made it very annoying to navigate and required the use of the torch for most of the map.
At the beginning of the map, there was nothing to indicate what to do, so I just ran around the courtyard until I picked up the crowbar, and then the map started. Towards the end of the map, once a button was pressed you need to backtrack through the map, but was not indicated well enough. There is once place in the courtyard where it looks like you can jump over a broken bit of wall, and even more so when there was a crate, but there was an invisible wall there.
The game play was good, and the level design was fine.
Manually
Medium
20 Minutes
After finishing the back on track map labs #9 it’s the second map i played that has the same theme.
it was ok the play and I liked the disabeling of the turrets part of that simple way to progress combat quite linear but in a too dark ambiance for me…ending was quite abrupt (would have like to fight a shopper in the area)
Using Gauge
Medium
15 Minutes
It’s good not great. It looks ok. The inside areas are better looking than the outside. Outside seems big without purpose. Worth a play through.
Very nice map
Playthough here at 11:23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH5qHHnuSJs
Manually
Easy
6 Minutes