Author’s Description “You start with you just simply doing your job at the launch site, but today you have a special shuttle launch and things start to fall apart.
Are you fearless enough and brave enough to conquer the terrors and enemy forces that face you?
Basic Details
- Title: Ground Zero
- File Name: of-sp-ground-zero-mod.7z
- Size : 33.2MB
- Author: Necromancer
- Date Released: 02 March 2012
MapTap Users
This mod is not available to download directly into MapTap as it’s larger than 20MB.
Download Options
You can still use it with MapTap once you have downloaded it.
Installation Instructions
Please use MapTap to install and run this mod.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
Reader Recommendations
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 9 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 3 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 29 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 47 Mins by Dr. Amazing
Longest: 3 Hours by juanchoclo
Total Time Played: 13 Hours, 23 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 3 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 29 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 47 Mins by Dr. Amazing
Longest: 3 Hours by juanchoclo
Total Time Played: 13 Hours, 23 Mins
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This is the author’s most ambitious release to date and probably his best. That said, there’s more wrong with it than right. I won’t go into detail about all the mistakes, because that just seems nasty, but the main issue is the lack of detail and polish.
There are some good ideas in here, but they weren’t enough to redeem the mod.
The author needs to look at the really good HL and OF release and copy the details. It’s better to release something smaller but really good than larger and average.
I admit to using GOD mod later on in an effort to get this posted and I suspect it would have been quite fun and challenging, although it might be too hard.
There’s a new hazard course, which I didn’t try and am off to try now.
The best I can say is MAYBE and that’s because of the ideas themselves rather than their implementation.
Using Gauge
Easy
1 Hour, 25 Minutes
It crashes before the game starts, saying:
WARNING: couldn’t open sysel.wad
I’ve turned off all unnecessary background apps/progs but it still crashes, even if I try to load a different Ground Zero map???
Did you install by MapTap or manually?
MapTap
Okay, I have figured out the problem. In the file you downloaded, there was a folder called ground_zero and a bunch of other files. Copy all those other files in the installation folder. So, in my case it’s C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\planetphilliphl2\opposing force\of-sp-ground-zero-mod.7z.
It should work now.
I have updated the download link to a new file which already has those files within the ground_zero folder.
Game play wise this is one of the first Opposing Force map packs in a long while I actually enjoyed and that’s the only reason why I give it a “play it later rating” but continue reading there are also many negative aspects about this map pack.
Texture wise it is a nightmare. The author used many prefabs and it seems to me that he forgot to turn on the “Texture lock” function in Hammer editor. Without that thing turned on all Objects you move around inside the editor will lose their Texture layout. That means we see numerous trains and other objects in game which don’t have the textures set properly. A very pity as the author knows how to build maps. He could have fixed it so easily. He is either blind or lazy I can’t tell.
See here for example:
http://www.planetphillip.com/media/2012/11/1024-ground-zero-10.jpg
http://www.planetphillip.com/media/2012/11/1024-ground-zero-04.jpg
Then to the mapping itself. We get a lot of blocky and empty looking rooms in this map pack while I admit it isn’t easy to come up with some good designs I think a little more effort in that regard wouldn’t have hurt. At least some areas look decent.
Another sad thing about this map pack is that you’re on your own. While it may be an Opposing Force map pack you aren’t playing a soldier. Instead you get hunted by them. Sad I love my Op4 grunts so much. 😛
There are also several English text messages. Unfortunately in very broken English worse than my own.
Conclusion: I’m definitely rating this better than it is but the game play is okay and that is all that counts for me.
Author: Please keep working on that one. Fix all those texture issues decorate some of the rooms more properly and this really would deserve a “play it later” rating. And in the love of god turn on “texture lock” tools – texture lock in Hammer menu. You need to have a map open to see it.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 5 Minutes
[AUTHOR] At the time when I made this map I actually didn’t know about the rexture lock. (I know as long as I have been making maps I probably should have) But I did already discover it not too long ago and I have been using it now. 🙂
Thanks for your feedback, and everyone else’s too!
This mod has some good ideas, but fails on several counts for me. The difficulty is really over the top sometimes, so I had to use god mode. The lighting is very dark in places and you can barely find buttons for doors, switches, etc. It’s definitely worth playing but not very polished. If you like a battle that you have no chance of winning, this may be the mod for you!
Manually
Easy
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
First of all, this is a big improvement on the other Necromancer maps. There are quite a lot of fun gameplay moments with puzzles interspersed. There are also a few non-linear areas, where you will have to backtrack or approach an environment from a different perpective. I think the general level design was a big improvement over his previous efforts, and there is a range of different environments, with puzzles to fit them. Some nice examples are a room which floods with toxic waste, and activating the power after a blackout.
Why the Maybe then? One of the most obvious issues is the horrible texturing – a huge amount of textures are badly misaligned which makes areas go from basic looking to downright terrible. There are also still lots of lights without light sources and other issues that wouldn’t be difficult to fix.
Whilst the gameplay was fun overall, it can get samey in some parts and there are some cruel designs like breaking floors which force you to lose health. There are also some segments like the “cave system” maps where ammo is extremely scarce.
I would also say that the ending is probably the weakest part of the map. We are given an impossible battle, which in the words of G-Man is rather an anticlimax after what we’ve been through. If you do God mode through it, Black Mesa transforms into some kind of sci-fi Borg-cube/spaceport and we have to board a shuttle. This is completely out of context with the rest of the game, especially since the maps begin with us launching a conventional rocket.
In conclusion, this is an enjoyable mod, but a little more polish and thought could have made it into something truly great.
Using Gauge
Easy
1 Hour, 45 Minutes
And yet another by Necromancer! Need I say more?
I was really hoping this wasn’t going to be like his other releases, but sadly it was and it was longer. The looks were a mixed bag with nothing above average, the gameplay was a mixture of enemies standing around waiting to be shot and too many.
For me the worst inclusion was a rather poorly done version of the blast pit from HL1, it is an area players of HL1 will know intimately and draw comparisons.
Just to be clear I am not going to be intentionally nasty, what I say is my own personal opinion.
I admire his enthusiasm/perseverance and self confidence, but not his mapping. That said looking back through the comments he seems willing to learn.
Necromancer, please sit down and think carefully about how you put your maps together. I am quite sure you are capable of so much better than what we have seen so far and I truly do want to see a map from you that I can put my hand on my heart and say “Play it now”.
Using Gauge
Easy
1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Thanks for all of your ideas. And I will certainly try. Maybe I will eventually be able to give you what you really want. 🙂
Maybe you have read me incorrectly. You don’t have to do something I really want, you have to do something YOU really want. At the end of the day there is no mapper/modder that will please everyone.
You already can do something I can’t and that’s make maps for a series of games I enjoy playing. In my opinion all you need to do now is to take a step back, sit down and think how can I make one of my maps look and play better. There are a number of people far better qualified than me here on PP who I’d bet would be happy to guide you if you asked them.
[AUTHOR] Actually, when I said to give you what you want I really meant for me to possibly to be able to release a map that you would give a “play it now” rating for.
I have no idea why this is getting such decent ratings because this was absolutely horrible.
The texturing was hilariously bad (did the author ever hear of texture lock?), some parts were ridiculous with its insanely difficult enemy placement (I’m looking at you Quarantine) and terrible level design. The download was also a complete mess.
Instead of doing actual scripted sequences, the author simply did level changes (which are incredibly jarring) to show what’s different.
One thing I did like however was the drug sequence in which the player is hallucinating and reminds me of Life’s End and Afraid of Monsters.
Using Gauge
Easy
47 Minutes
Also, another thing that I realize that I really need to work on is the difficulty. Over these past few weeks especially I now know for sure that I need to work on this.
I think that personally this is really hard for me because just to give you guys an idea for the trouble that I face with this: I actually play this mod on the hardest difficulty and I almost always have constant 100/100 health!
But I will definitely take this into consideration now and try to make my maps accordingly. Thanks, everyones thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Yap just keep in mind you’re the mapper you know what will happen & where. Others however don’t. I had to learn the same thing during internal game tests on my mods where my testers complained it was way to hard. So I lowered the difficulty and they were happy. That’s one of the main things you also need to do get yourself beta testers. When you think something is good to get released let it test before you actually release it.
You will be surprised how many things other people than you can see during their play through. 4 eyes see more than 2. After spending weeks & months you don’t even realize tiny glitches anymore because you adapted to them not knowing and that’s why beta testers are so important. 🙂 Looking forward for your next release.
[AUTHOR] I will definitely try to reduce difficulty, but unfortunately I don’t have any friends who would be willing to beta test these maps. (The only one that really tests them is my brother, which does help but this is only one more opinion and not a wide variety)
I really liked this mappack. For some reason, I did not find it difficult like many others, and similar to the mod author, had 100hp/armor nearly all the time. I thought it was easy! Others have already told you about improving some textures/blocky hallways, all I can say is keep at it, the more you work with hammer, the better you will get! I’m sure there’s a few people here who you can talk to about beta testing for your next project, as this community is one of the best for such things, and trust me, it will help a ton! Great job man, I really enjoyed this mod. I’ll definitely keep a look out for anything you may put out in the future 🙂
An ok mod but perfect to play latter, the most recurrent shortfall in this one was the heavy blocky design, it looks like blockyland for god sake, at the ending part textures at least improoved a little bit but still the colors were really darky, the combat is perfect and in the military zone is a great entretainment area. The whole weaponery ofr OpF is there so is pretty fun to use it especialy the mach 50mm gun, and the sniper.
Overall a medium-lenght mod perfect for free-time holidays and some great grunt combat experience.
Using Gauge
Medium
1 Hour, 5 Minutes
I’m with Dr. Amazing on this one – I don’t see how this can get high recommendations. It has some good ideas but it’s terribly uneven, particularly in difficulty, and is plagued by many, many newbie mapping problems.
Let’s get the mapping issues out of the way first. As the screenshots show, much of the mapping is blocky and lacking detail. The map changes are jarring and not smoothly done at all. The texturing is awful – although the author discusses that in the comments above. But what can really make a map ugly is sloppy lighting, and unfortunately most of the areas in these maps have poor lighting – not just dark (which many areas are), but poorly thought out lighting.
Some of the layouts are pretty good, although again without details. I think the larger problem is that everything feels sterile – that is, not alive. More sounds and some scripted events can really bring the maps to life.
All that said, there is some fun to be had in Ground Zero. You get a decent variety of enemies to fight (although mostly from HL) and – eventually – most of the Op4 weapons to play with. There is a nice progression of difficulty, but the climax goes way too far over the top on the difficulty. It’s a huge assault on a huge number of grunts, Black Ops, turrets, and a few tanks and honestly it’s just too difficult (and I like hard mods generally). The challenge level needs work.
I would definitely say avoid it. There’s much better stuff out there for Op4.
To the author, I would say instead of going big like this (over a dozen maps), go small and focused. A tight, detailed mod with 1 or a couple maps is much preferred to a sloppy large pack which is what Ground Zero is.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 16 Minutes
Is obvious that the creator is an amateur at making maps, An amateur with really good ideas.
I see a lot of people complaining about the difficulty, I don’t have problems with it (I die multiple time but i didn’t get stuck) until the last “chapter” “starport” which i need to use GOD mode at the beginning of the chapter.
There is some kind of “plot”, kind of, So you play as a soldier dude, And you launch a rocket, and something happen, and other soldiers want to kill you, for some reason?, and there are aliens that at the beginning i guess it was supposed that they were created by radiation?, cause there were radiation thing, but there there was this level called “The Lurking Things” so i guess they are like eldritch monsters?, And then there is a freaking wall with a pentagram?, and the black ops want to kill you to, and you find an alien space ship from mars?, and you go to mars?, and it just end…
like that with no explanation what so ever…
Okey, lets address the elephant in the room, The mapping, yeah… it looks bad… like really bad, everything looks blocky, The canon of the tanks is bugged, The tentacle hits the air, And, in general, everything looks empty and constantly remind you that you are playing a video-game.
Also the author don’t know how to balance maps, He just randomly give you, like 10 new weapons randomly and trow you the entire army at you.
But not everything is bad, The map have really interesting things, Such as a room with jumps where you take damage by second, And a fight again a tentacle or a room where you need to escape from radioactive waste.
The enemies have variation, have some clever access to supply rooms, And excepting for the final level, I have fun, should you play it?, if you have nothing better to do and you want a challenge, yeah, why not.
Using Gauge
Medium
3 Hours
I was stuck at a few places that I noclipped through :-
1. The very first room with radioactivity where we had to climb up a few boxes. Was unable to get up even via CTRL+Jump
2. The Blast Pit clone map where I couldn’t get reach the Oxygen button.
Any guide on how players managed these?