Map Labs challenge to release. The theme this time was Episode One – make a map that pays homage to the underrated Half-Life 2: Episode One.
The challenge recieved 7 entries, here they are!
- Title: Episode One
- Filename: sdk-2013-sp-mlc-episodeone.7z
- Size : 187 MB
- Author: Salamancer, Jean “XBLAH” Knapp, Nicholas Nakano, Aleksandr “alex_mmc” Lavrinovitš, Skorly, Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon, Supernocho
- Date Released: 8 February 2019
THIS VERSION CURRENTLY CAN NOT BE USED WITH GAUGE. SORRY
- Make sure you have the Upcoming branch of the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer installed in Steam and run at least once. (Properties – Betas – select upcoming from the dropdown list).
- Copy the “episodeone” folder into your SourceMods folder.
- Restart or start Steam.
- Map Labs #2: Episode One should now be listed in your Library tab.
If you decide to use the Per-Map Opinion Images, please either watch the video below or use the file below:
EpisodeOne-Review-Template.txt
Thank you.
Listed as they are displayed in the mod itself:
Direwolf by Salamancer
Bootstrap Intervention by Jean “XBLAH” Knapp
Sawdust by Nicholas Nakano
Extinction Event Horizon by Aleksandr “alex_mmc” Lavrinovitš
The Pit by Skorly
Terminal Velocity by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
Outland Resistance by Supernocho
Time for you to share your thoughts! Vote for your top 3 Episode One maps. Poll closes 28th February 2019.
Which 3 Episode One maps are your favorites?
- Outland Resistance by Supernocho (12%, 12 Votes)
- Terminal Velocity by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon (11%, 11 Votes)
- The Pit by Skorly (12%, 12 Votes)
- Extinction Event Horizon by Aleksandr 'alex_mmc' Lavrinovitš (2%, 2 Votes)
- Sawdust by Nicholas Nakano (7%, 7 Votes)
- Bootstrap Intervention by Jean "XBLAH" Knapp (27%, 27 Votes)
- Direwolf by Salamancer (28%, 28 Votes)
Total Voters: 45
Loading ...WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
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3,405Overall
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12Today
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16Last 7 days
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27Last 30 days
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225365 days
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 7 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 30 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 43 Mins by JetBlueChest
Longest: 2 Hours by DeanAmythe
Total Time Played: 10 Hours, 33 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
Phillip would be proud!
I was quite disapointed by this pack
Unfortunately, the background map is 10x better than ALL of the included entries
The only entry that made me feel some emotions except boredom was Bootstrap Intervention since it has funny ending and interesting gameplay compared to other participants (well, i still didn’t try The Pit because don’t like Citadel-styled maps. Maybe it’s also the good one, don’t know)
Still, i have to admit that all maps are well-balanced (not Offshore-like, when 40 soldiers attack you and then other 40 soldiers attack you without respite), but their visual design is just lazy. Sorry guys, but you didn’t even place some trees/buildings on the background to make scene more lively, maps just clip off, cmon.
Also, “insides” are poor detailed too. I hoped, that Direwolf would be good – the beginning was nice. But then i made my way to the roof and saw outside… Felt like looking at hl1 background with 2D mountains on it.
Extinction Event Horizon is better than others (excluding The Pit and Bootstrap Intervention) if you drop the “dead” background. Even large areas with little amount of details didn’t hurt the eyes and the trick with two endings is quite original. Otherwise, nothing special.
In conclusion, i’d like to say that my expectations weren’t met. Sadly, it’s rather a waste of time than an interesting trip. Good luck in the future
This entry is everything I expected it to be. It captures a lot of Episode One’s content, and pulls it off in a way that makes sense in the map and not just thrown in as an excuse to be in the challenge.
My only major complaint is that I found it to be a bit unclear what to do/where to go at some points, but it wasn’t that bad.
Great entry. Implemented things from Episode One very well while also feeling original. I liked how things from Epistle 3 were implemented as well, especially near the end.
Also, that final cinematic was superb!
This one started out okay, but at the end it went downhill really fast. It’s so easy to get out of the map it’s almost like the creator designed the map to encourage it. There are dev textures everywhere.
I also didn’t really see anything to remind me of Episode One. Maybe the 10 second part with the zombies at the start.
One of the things I did like were the puzzles before you get outside. I thought they were construced well and not too hard to figure out.
Also, optimization. I don’t believe there is any. The whole map is being drawn at all times I believe, and resulting in some noticable lag.
Followed the theme very well, but didn’t really do anything special. I liked how this entry had multiple endings.
There isn’t really a lot to talk about with this entry. It’s good, but not really spectacular.
Altough I thought the visuals lacked a bit in some places, this entry looks pretty good overall. Captures the feel of the Citadel quite well, altough it didn’t feel like it was falling apart or anything, which is quite weird considering the fog is all orange because of the fire.
Combat was pretty good. A lot of Elites to fight against with more than enough ammo to spend.
The design of the place was a bit weird though; why would the Combine want to jump from platform to platform to get to somewhere?
Although it has a confusing start, this entry is quite solid with some great gameplay and a good Episode One style map. There are a lot of zombies but I never thought there were too many.
The visuals are decent, but lack in some places, especially the outside area at the end.
Not many complaints, as this entry is just really solid.
I am quite confused about this entry. It’s more EP2 than EP1. I couldn’t really find anything that was related to EP1.
As a map on itself, it is quite good. Good combat and level design. But, as mentioned earlier, this map does not really follow the theme so I can’t really give it a higher rating than this one.
Manually
Medium
2 Hours
Talking about Sawdust, did you make sure you installed the mod correctly? I haven’t had any problems when playing that entry.
Reinstalled it a couple of times, and all the problems listed are still present.
Hmmm, that’s strange. What system are you playing on (e.g. Windows)? I know I often experienced something strange every time I play a HL2 mod on an iMac. Like whenever a mecha-crab is supposed to appear, it would do fine on Windows. However, on an iMac, it would crash to desktop instead.
I play on Windows 10.
The creator of Sawdust has said himself that the map was a bit rushed, which explains the problems I had with it.
This is the second challenge that the modders have released without Phillip and, after playing its entries, I can already tell that this competition has significantly improved from “One Room!” I guess the mappers in this one had more time to work on their entries than the previous challenge, which only gave them 72 hours to complete.
Direwolf
Even though some parts of the map may be confusing, I still got the hang of it and finished without trouble. Anyway, this map did not only had some good gameplay, it also had some sequences that were decent. This includes the gunship, which you need to avoid getting hit since you don’t have the rocket launcher.
Bootstrap Intervention
I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be mix-up between Episode One and Epistle 3 as in this entry, your objective is to stabilize the core inside the Borealis, which is in a way similar to what you did in the Citadel. This entry executed this concept pretty well while keeping the gameplay enjoyable.
Sawdust
While the map seems well designed at first, the combat felt a bit bland and it was lacking in music. The area where you fight the hunter seems too cramped. Also, I realized that the map didn’t remind you to get the weapons before you fight combine soldiers outside of the building. Basically, the player would get punished by having him/her to fight without any guns if they forget to do so, which can be easily missed.
Extinction Event Horizon
I quite like the view of the entire map the player is given when going outside since these kind of perspectives impress me. The way you have to progress at the beginning, though, is kind of confusing and I had no idea until I interacted with door. The final fight was cool, however, it went downhill when you are getting to the trains. This was the weakest part of this entry; it had a short fight, but it also had a weak ending. I thought it would’ve been better if that part was “intense.”
The Pit
The combine architecture in this entry looks very faithful to the ones from the vanilla HL2 games, even though they look different. I was going to say that the combat felt generic, but after playing it the second time, I realized that the combat may be better than I thought. Oh, and I should note that there is a map flaw where you can climb down the elevator shaft to the bottom of the map and don’t get killed.
Terminal Velocity
When it comes to mappers for challenges like these, Matt71490 stands out the most to me as he uses music, textures, and lightning in way that is unique. Putting that aside, just when the entry loaded, I immediately recognized the elevator that Matt used in his previous entry from “One Room,” which I don’t really care about. The design elements are good and the gameplay was at least entertaining. I also got some “VerticalVille” vibes when I was looking down at the elevator shaft. The ending was abrupt as the game ended shortly after I left the building.
Outland Resistance
There are a few flaws in this entry where I give this a “It’s Good” rating. The design was usual, the best part being the area where you have to hide from the sniper while using mines to quickly take down turrets. The problem I have with this entry is what part from Episode One is it being based on. I couldn’t tell what it was trying to refer to other than you and the resistance attempting to escape using the trains. Its ending also suffers the same flaw as Extinction After Horizon; the combat wasn’t exciting and the ending was abrupt.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
I agree with my predecessor, this pack was much better than the first one! A lot of good maps all around, especially the Ep3 ending map was so cool, that I think if someone would merge all already released Ep3 maps together we’ll probably get a great fan-version without needing to wait for the groups working on this elsewhere, who might never finish anyway…
Welp, here I am, reviewing again. I haven’t really been feeling in the mood to as of late, but a mapping contest based off my favorite entry in the series? Yes, please! I wasn’t too impressed with the last one, but the theme was quite limiting in scope, and the timeframe didn’t help. Let’s see if something more broad helped the mapping out.
Direwolf
What a strong map to start off with. This nails the feel of Episode 1 in terms of both atmosphere and intensity, starting slow, but ramping up greatly towards the latter half.
If I had to critique something here, I’d say that you should have a little more signalling on where to go in the beginning, you should have spruced up the skybox with some buildings, and maybe toned down the fog in the room with the Antlion Guard. Otherwise, excellent entry, definitely one of my favorites.
Bootstrap Intervention
Mixing the core containment concepts of Episode 1 with an Episode 3 setting. Well done overall, if a little on the easy side. One gripe I had was having to go all the way back for an energy sphere at the last override, making me have to do the whole loop again.
Otherwise, well done, and good re-usage of the dyson sphere from Off-World Relocation. Cinematics themselves weren’t half-bad, though I think Alyx/G-Man disappearing could’ve used a particle effect at the very least.
Sawdust
I Honestly got more of an Outland feel here than an Episode 1 one, to be honest. It’s not a bad map by any stretch, but I don’t feel it uses the theming very well aside from the skybox. Generally good regardless though, the flare “puzzle” was the closest I got to anything Episode 1 related. Also could’ve directed people to the weaponry a little more, maybe lit up the room or something similar. Maybe even a light flicker.
Extinction Event Horizon
Map started out well, then devolved over time. The areas started nice and detailed, but seemed to fall to giant empty areas towards the end, likely due to a deadline. Combat’s solid, at least. I felt both endings were a bit abrupt, could’ve used more of finale in general. Good use of Hunter teasing, though. I only actually caught them on my second playthrough.
The Pit
It’s always nice to see a Citadel themed map, rare as they are. Sticks to the architecture pretty well, even if the level design itself was weird in a couple places. It seemed like a generally inconvenient place to move around in for those who might be working there.
Otherwise, I think some more destruction could’ve made the atmosphere better. It seems like it was supposed to be set during Episode 1, but all I saw that indicated it was the orange fog. Generally enjoyable map to go through, though, even if I got confused on how to get back up to Alyx at the end.
Terminal Velocity
Very good representation of the underground sections within Episode 1, it really nails the “oh god, everything’s gone to complete shit” feel that Episode 1’s underground had. The end was really oddly undetailed though. Definitely feels rushed there. Music for the elevator finale was nice, though, as well as the combat throughout.
Outland Resistance
Okay, i’m sorry, but this is just straight Outland-themed with a Episode 1 skybox slapped onto it. There isn’t even a Citadel visible! You change up the skybox and added a portal storm, I wouldn’t blink at it just being an Episode 2 map. Gameplay is alright, but like EEH, it’s ending is abrupt and it needed more of defined finale rather than a couple waves of soldiers then a black screen.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour
You didn’t need to walk all the way back. The ball tube was accessible from the platform you were in the third stabilizer.
Re: Sawdust, not sure what the ending is? I’m at a train that can’t be entered and is ‘landlocked’ anyway. I can wander off to different areas of the map which are dead ends, or the beginning of the map. Nobody has commented yet in reviews so perhaps I have missed something.
You’re basically at the end. You have to enter the red container from the train. Than the map will end.
Oops, forgot to login.
Thanks!
Enjoyed and appreciated all of the games…. well done chaps for your time efforts and dedication
Muchos Obrigardo or summatt )
under Linux Sawdust is crashing while loading.
where is the crowbar in Terminal Velocity?
There is no crowbar, you get a stunstick from a dead Metrocop, in the first room after the elevator.
Overall I enjoyed this set of maps. Some were naturally better than others, but for the most part the quality was high.
My favorite overall was Terminal Velocity. I liked the setting including the large elevator shaft and interesting enemies. It was a nice touch to have each weapon you pickup announced by the HEV suit. Quite fun to play.
Outland Resistance was also very good. I liked the addition of the toxic swamps and snipers, but the lack of an ending was a bit disappointing.
The Pit was another good entry. This one had some good use of roller mines and energy balls as well as some well placed manhacks. It was a little short though.
Extinction Event Horizon had some good combat with strategically placed combine zombies and a few Hunters. While it’s nice to have 2 possible endings, it wasn’t really communicated to the player that there was a time limit to board the train. Also, the first time I played the map I died when I boarded the train in some kind of explosion.
Sawdust was a nice looking map but it froze up on me multiple times. I managed to make my way through it eventually but I had to crash the program several times and then avoid the problem areas altogether. I am using an older Windows 7 laptop but usually it doesn’t suffer that problem.
Bootstrap Intervention had a lot of color issues for me. The backgrounds were purple at the start and the end. It did have some nice touches, like the enhanced Gravity Gun and tasks involving the energy balls. I never did figure out what I was supposed to do with the crane. I just jumped on one of the shipping containers and then placed a barrel on top of that so I could jump onto the elevated platform and click the switch. I’m not sure if that was what the author intended.
Direwolf was a very good entry with lots of retracing your steps to complete the mission. I managed to get knocked off the roof by the Ant Lions at one point, and, while I didn’t die, there was no way for me to do anything other than get shot by the gunship when I moved out into the open. It would have been nice to have a ladder there or something so I could proceed along the intended path.
Overall there was some enjoyable stuff here. It’s definitely worth downloading and playing.
Manually
Easy
1 Hour, 20 Minutes
I have not yet finished more than 2 maps in this pack, but I have to ask this:
No screenshot capabilities? Why has the screenshot feature been changed, and why won’t the Steam overlay work? Is there a fix for this? I’ve changed the keyboard options to screenshot with f12 as Steam normally would (since that’s where my hand typically goes to take one) but I have seen no evidence that any screenshots even get taken? Where would they be stored if they are? I feel like I’m not going to want to bother finishing it, if there’s no way for me to refresh my own memory or take screenshots of the cool stuff not shown on the images above.
So, the Steam overlay not working is a known problem with the 2013 SDK. However, both my Steam screenshot and the in-game screenshot work fine for me. You might have to specifically bind a key in game, though I can’t recall the command (I think it’s ‘jpeg’). My screenshots show up both in the Steam folder (in folder named numerically by AppID) and in the screenshots folder inside the mod folder under sourcemods.
Ahh okay good, I did find the folder. I assume that once it’s no longer a ‘beta branch’ that the source version will (… if it’s even being worked on?) allow for the UI to work properly. My screenshots don’t show up in the overall steam folder – but that MAY be some weirdness due to how I have my game folders set up – for whatever weird reason they show up in a screenshot folder on another disk (I compulsively organize my stuff, lol they’re in E: / (a name) / my documents / assorted characters / valve-steam-gamestuff / screenshots… I had no idea they would even wind up anywhere near that, but… at least it’s a reliable place for the shots that DO work properly with the UI in place. 😀 ALL different games wind up in there, not even organized, just by whenever they were taken. Ahh steam, go home, you’re drunk.
I’m not quite as positive about this compared to the others here. It’s a good map but visually drab and I wish there was more lighting! I know, I know, this is the setting of course. But it’s just my annoying preference…
The map itself is designed well with lots of good exploration and action. However, my beef is in the knowing what to do next. Sometimes you’re just left thinking what’s going on? Where do I go and what do I do!
Eventually I escaped – the soldiers and antlions at the end worked well too.
The idea is quite good with regards to powering things up using energy balls. But I found the whole process of (almost) blindly going back n forth quite irritating. Plus it’s stupidly dark and the combine soldiers being there didn’t really work. Ending scenes where quite nice but overall, this wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed as much as I should have.
This bombs with an engine error:
“714/surprise_zombie_01 – npc_fastzombie_torso: UTIL_SetModel: not precached: models/zombie/fast_torso.mdl”
Rated 1 simply because the template needs something. Shame this didn’t work. 🙁
This has got to be one of the most disappointing maps I’ve ever played for two reasons:
One: it looks big and quite amazing -plus I start high WITH a crossbow from up high!!! (YES!!!!) But, there’s no monsters down below to pick off. Gutted!
Two: sadly, I think this map doesn’t work on the anything but Windows. I’m on Mac so the entire place is basically empty except for a few undead. And it looks incredibly well designed too so I’m confused by all this. And I can hear Hunters before heading off into the arena but nothing appears!
This could have been a great sniper map. Imagine the entire complex being overrun with zombies and you have a crossbow with tons of extra ammo plus a great high position to pick ’em off. Would have made a nice change…
Also, what a shame the Hunters didn’t show. I’m not a fan of those irritating beasts but the arena was laid out brilliantly with barrels and mines. Probably would have been great! So I’m gutted. This map looked ace but wasn’t 🙁 Hoping there will be a fix one day?
Didn’t know what/how to rate this.
I can see the potential. But alas… sigh… never mind…
This part of the story isn’t one of my favourites about HL2 if I’m honest. However, I really enjoyed this. The map was structured well and the balance of exploration, puzzles and action was spot-on. Considering I didn’t expect to enjoy this is a pleasant surprise. The Alyx part was a bit meh but I get it and I’d have liked to have done something ‘more’ at the end…
The start of this wasn’t good. I guess the dead guard only passes on his weapon to Windows users lol. So I had to ‘cheat’ and give myself the crowbar instead. Afterwards, things appeared to work okay and boy, is this a fantastic map!!! I loved every second of it. Creepy, without being annoyingly too dark. Lots of zombies/etc and a perfect balance of exploration, action, etc.
Wanted this to continue…
Agree with previous comments about the map’s context but I gotta say that I really did enjoy this. From the start, it’s interesting with a route through the acid/etc that is fun. After this it just keeps on being a great adventure through and is enjoyable with a good balance of action and exploration. It’s a small map but I enjoyed the journey.
Sadly, the end battle doesn’t quite work for me. I hear Hunters are supposed to appear along with the Soldiers? I get only the Soldiers (good lol).
Then there’s nothing more to do after these guys are dead. The map doesn’t end…
Still, I hate Hunters and everything leading up to this point was just dandy. Awesome map.
For me, this started off slow but sure ended on a high. It’s a shame a few things didn’t work properly or failed completely though, unless you’re on Windows! I enjoyed this download a lot though overall.
Sawdust: Play it now.
Others: forgettable.
The visual of the map, which is a mixture of various style places, is very nice. When I find the paths I sometimes got confused. I like the idea of returning to the starting point in the last part.
Some textures are broken on my computer. (ex. Skybox in the starting point) The user experience is really nice! Using the super gravity gun we can get a feeling similar to HL2 and HL2 EP1. I love the ending scene of resting Gordon Freeman.
Very cool map! Speedy combats and simple puzzles made the map very fun.
* In the last part in front of the train, the player can jump on the roof and go out of the map. It would be better if there are some invisible walls.
At first, I didn’t know I have to arrive at the train station before the train leaves. In the second trial, I played faster and arrived at the train before it starts to move. The visual of the map is nice and the combats in the wide areas are fun!
Simple but nicely designed map! Well done!
I like the concept that the player is a metrocop. (That implies we don’t fight any combines in this map.) The zombies are well placed so I could enjoy playing. I like the addition of HEV voices when gaining the weapons and the addition of the portable bombs.
The map is well designed and its visual is good. But in the last part, after I kill all the enemies nothing happens. I couldn’t find a way to see the ending (if it exists).
Manually
Medium
2 Hours
Well overall I think this competition felt like a big Play It Later, I mean, yeah it’s entertaining to play and combat, but nothing out of this world You know.
All of the entries were to me in the same level of quality and mapping design, most of them were boxy, and overall I never felt like that spirit loyal to the ep1. Yeah, all of the entries portrayed an “escape from City 17” goal, but the endings in all of them never bring any WOW moment.
So yeah sorry for my dull opinion on this one, but I guess it is how I feel.
And if I have to pick one winner then I’d say The Bootstrap entry won, as it was the only one that really managed how to bring original elements to its plot and gameplay.
Manually
Medium
2 Hours
I really enjoyed this map. Not going to lie. Love battling these combines
Playthough here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Jv3aPRwzs&list=PL5MfhJVT6wIKbXxhAvpcJxjx8m-uEG42x&index=134
Manually
Easy
43 Minutes