Gordon wakes disorientated and finds Gman talking in his usual mysterious way about consequences???
Looks like another mission for the only man who can make a difference.
Bring it on……
Basic Details
- Title: Pyramid
- File Name: hl2-ep2-sp-pyramid.7z
- Size : 38.48MB
- Author: Ross Walker
- Date Released: 24 December 2008
Download Options
Installation Instructions
- Copy the Pyramid folder into your SourceMods folder.
- Restart or start Steam.
- Pyramid should now be listed in your Library tab.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots may contain spoilers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
Please note: These statistics are valid from December 2010
-
2,754Overall
-
0Today
-
4Last 7 days
-
16Last 30 days
-
165365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 5 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 5 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 53 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 30 Mins by Daken50
Longest: 1 Hours, 25 Mins by shaboo
Total Time Played: 4 Hours, 25 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 5 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 53 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 30 Mins by Daken50
Longest: 1 Hours, 25 Mins by shaboo
Total Time Played: 4 Hours, 25 Mins
Tags (?)
Collections (?)
This release is currently not in a collection
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
Jump to a review
Here is an early Christmas present from Ross. It’s his first mod but don’t think it’s like most first mods/maps because it’s not, not by a long way.
It starts with a brief conversation with the Gman and off you go into the fray.
The mod is well balance between exploring and action with plenty of variety regarding enemies and layouts. The Pyramid is greta, if a little out of place but hey, why does everything have to be Combine?
The mod develops nicely although there could have been a better build up to the finale.
Now for the negatives…
It’s really too big for a first mod made by one person. By this I am mena there are lots of little things that stop it from being a Hall Of Fame 2008 mod. Textures in the wrong place, big red buttons, strange layouts that just don’t feel right, lack of detail in some places.
I don’t actually remember any in game music but I did have the sound very low. If there is no music then that’s another point to add to the minor niggles.
That may sound like a big problem but it’s not. The actually gameplay is always good enough to make it easy to look past those things.
Back to the good…
It really is a great fun mod to play and considering the author is a “going-grey” gamer who only started mapping one year ago, you have to admire what he has accomplished.
All in all a deserved “play It Now!” but needs the finer details before it becomes a classic.
Oh! I almost forgot. There’s a cool feature available once you finish the mod, it’s a great little touch.
A very nice map with funny tricks. Unfortunately the fast run command does not work, nor the weapon change. The HEV suit is nowhere to be found. Once fixed, would be a “Play it now”.
@Count_de_Monet, just because you couldn’t find the HEV and the fact that without it you can’t change weapons (To my knowledge, anyway) seems a little unfair to call it Buggy.
Also I don’t think you can run fast without the suit either.
SPOILER BELOW
It’s behind some glass in the second room with the Antlions
SPOILER ABOVE
Hi Phillip,
I changed the config.cfg to that of EP.2 . It appeared to solve the weapon change problem. Besides I found the HEV. You really have to insist on jumping in the narrow passage (only one side works) but it finally worked. So I came back to change my rating, just to find your answer. You are right, “it’s a play it now”. Are you sure one needs the HEV to run? I never noticed that. Well, you are probably right.
OK, everything runs, back to the game.
I found TWO HEV’s, but ran into a few annoying ladders that didn’t work. Then in the underground section, there was a water pit that had enemies shooting thru walls at me, and no way forward without noclipping. It got flakier from there, ending with an annoying flaming barrel trap with all of 3 health — so I’ve shelved this mod. Lots of good ideas, but a few kinks need to be worked out.
I had them shooting through the walls also.To get through the grate you need the crowbar.It’s uptop where the combine shoots at ya.Use the crate to jump ontop of 4 pipes where you entered the room then onto the ledge.It’s tricky to get on the pipes but thats how I did it.
I played these maps before they were put up here and I’ve given the author quite a bit of feedback already.
In my opinion, these maps are not in a condition fit for release – they are ugly, frustrating and generally set up pretty badly in most respects. I think that, apart from the models which have been used directly from Half Life 2 itself, that this mod could look better in the original GoldSource engine than it does now. And this is a mod for EP2!
This is not really the authors fault. I am not having a go at him. He’s done what we all do at first and tried to run before he can walk. It’s part of the learning process and he has all the best intentions, but he really needs to scrap this project, at least for now, and concentrate on making something smaller which looks like it’s running on an engine made after the turn of the Millenium.
The author knows that he may consult me on mapping matters and I sincerely hope he continues to map, and enjoys getting better at it.
Some of you seem to have enjoyed these maps, and I fully respect your rights to be crazy. For this reason I will rate this mod “Think twice” instead of “Avoid It”.
Thanks philip, I knew you would find something for us for the holiday! Thanks for your site also it’s the best
Brian.
Thank for all the feedback guys. Good and otherwise. I didn’t expect so many people to play it so soon after was was put up for download.
A little history about Pyramid is that as Phillip said, these are my first maps. 12 months ago, I wanted to teach myself modding in my spare time and decided to try as many things I could with a general story line or idea behind the project as a whole to give it some cohesion. That is how it started so please don’t expect it to be as polished or up to the high quality standards of many of the other mods out there.
As I developed each map and the storyline, I learnt how some things should be done properly and intergrated them where possible. But to bring the whole mod up to a high enough standard to satisfy everyone is a 100 miles of work as only a modder can understand. I feel I have only touched the surface of what there is to learn about modding.
I know that there are many small problems with the whole project and may address them in the future, but as far as I was concerned, it is fun to play, I have learned heaps from creating it and therefore thought it worth posting for other people to enjoy. I also appreciate the feedback. All of it. This project has been a huge learning curve for me.
As the author, I know I am biased, but I also give it a play it now rating. If you like, all well and good, if not, well thanks for trying it anyway.
Cheers and have a great festive season.
Merry Christmas all.
I commend you for making this Ross.It could be alot better with even a few tweaks like making the ladders work so you dont get stuck.Another is at the end I can see things in the distance..are those parts of of places I’ve been that are showing?Couple other things were combines always shoot an energy ball as soon as they see you and that is wrong(all coded the same?).Sometimes they shoot before you even get there(invisable walls to them).The room before pic #12 is an example and I also had the combine reappear when I went back through the map change and came back.The dead combine was dead no longer.
I think this map is damn good just needs work.Get some good beta testers and they can find most of this stuff.I hope you can continue mapping as you have some good potential.Way better than me.I can’t even find the button for hammer 😛
So this is released now? I’m kind of wondering since I got another beta to test a few days ago which made me assume it was still in progress.
Hum… a bit buggy and …hummm, didn’t give me a feeling; sorry.
The following comments are mine and mine alone. Whilst I may reference the author, from herein called Ross (Because that’s his name!), that is not to say they are endorsed by him.
I had an influence in how and when this mod was released. Pyramid was sent to me around August 2008 and it was in a very rough state. I sent it to some people on the PlanetPhillip Beta Testing Team. I, and they, made comments and suggestions, along with other people Ross was in contact with.
Things went silent while Ross slaved away day and night (Poetic licence invoked here) improving the mod. He them contacted me about a week ago and sent me the latest version.
It was very clear that it had improved greatly since the version I had played. Ross requested I post it on PP as beta version 1. I played through it and found one show stopping bug that Ross quickly solved.
It was clear to me via IM conversations with Ross that he was very eager to release something ASAP. I honestly felt that it was too rough to call a public beta because it contained many, many minor issues.
The work involved to address these issues is significant. I also felt that since the mod was quite long that most players would simply play through the mod and not provide beta-style feedback. They were also unlikely to replay such a long mod after a “final” version was released.
I therefore suggested to Ross that this be released in its present state. Unlike a beta release which would effectively force Ross to release a new version, releasing the mod as is, still gives him the option of updaing without the commitment.
I also had the feeling that in reality this mod has more or less gone as far as it could. I, and others, mentioend to Ross that he was too ambitious for a first mod and should have set his sights a little lower. A smaller mod could be beta tested regularly and improved upon with a sensible amount of work.
Sometimes an artist needs to stop work on something and move on, I felt this is the case here. Not because the work is not good but because it it requires too much work to improve.
It is very clear that Ross has worked extremely hard on this mod and I believe that he has reached a point where his motivation level has peaked, especially since a release has been made. As I have already said, addressing these issues would probably take 50% of the time he took to actually build the mod, although I accept I am not a mapper and therefore unqualified to make that estimate.
When we agreed to release “as is” we both knew that the response would be mixed. I particualrly felt that it would be polarized between mappers and players, with mappers being harder on it than players.
Perhaps my view of the mod is clouded by my admiration for Ross, who as a going-grey gamer started only a year ago and has done something I have only dreamed of.
Perhaps my opinion of the mod is clouded by the fact that as long as I have fun playing it, all the issues and minor errors become unimportant.
It’s not polished, it’s not prefect but it is a lot better than some other mods listed on PP.
I’d like to finish by addressing some of the above comments. I’ll preface this with a statement that I fully respect commenters” rights to express their opinion and give their opinions.
@Chris: Obviously we disagree about this mod but I would like to challenege your Recommendation Image. As a full release you are say8ing that if players had a choice of playing this or nothing you would almost suggest nothing. That seems too hard. If this was a Beta then I could understand recommending players wait for the final release.
@Free Wing: Again, I repsect your right to express you opinion but comments liek this don’t really help anybody, expecially the author. If you experienced bugs and this caused you to add the Too Buggy recommendation image, you should have listed them otherwise the author won’t gain anything from your comment. Was there one particualr event or bug that casued you more problems than others?
In closing, I hope the above comment explains why the mod was released as it was.
If you want to see a new version of this mod, please add all the issues you encountered.
@Phillip
Sorry, but I stand firmly by my comments. If someone recommended to me that I play this mod and told me that it was worth it beforehand, they would get a severe frowning upon and lose a vast amount of credibility when I found out the truth.
As it turns out that didn’t happen. I knew this mod was unfinished before I played and I did my best to offer my help to the author, I am sure I will continue to help him out in the future. But your challenge, and the deceptive way which this mod is being presented currently, asks me to be more specific about my criticism.
My recommendation is fair. People should think twice before downloading this mod, because it’s an overly ambitious mod made by someone who is just starting out, it looks awful, plays badly, and outright breaks in places if you do the wrong thing.
In addition to the horrendous architecture, the only way the lighting could be any worse is if there just wasn’t any at all. All the displacements (like jagged rocks and stuff) are really pointy and have their textures horribly stretched over them. The texturing everywhere is terrible – there isn’t a single part of this mod which looks good.
There are ladders to important places that don’t even work. The buttons in the game are nothing more than floating red cubes or cubes made of green glass which float mysteriously through the air when you press them. The lack of combat planning has been crudely addressed by having a million enemies at all times. There are several places that the player can get firmly stuck – and not just places you shouldn’t really get to. Real, important places that the player has to visit!
I read your review again and I wonder if we’re playing the same game.
Of course, this is just my lowly opinion based on my own lowly standards and you can choose to think I’m a moron and shout from the rooftops about how good this mod is all you like. After all, what do I know?
Random visitors to this page are most likely to see the first review, the shiny green Play it Now button, and the 5/5 rating, and the download the mod immediately.
Do you think any of those people feel let down ?
If this page was a feedback area for an unfinished project then it would seem much more honest than it does now.
Got to play this now after reading Chris Fox comments, can any thing be this bad? I will go find out.
Oh things can be much worse than this. It’s all relative.
This is by no means the worst mod I have ever seen – and when you consider that it’s the first thing that this author has ever produced then it’s actually a very good first attempt.
This mod is the result of Ross’s early mapping learning process combining with his enthusiasm. And that in itself is a good thing.
But it doesn’t make this a good mod.
I look forward to the better mods which will undoubtedly emerge in the future if Ross keeps his enthusiasm.
Chris you are a pefectionist as is kasberg and leon,cube,baltic etc.This is a first attempt.I agree its not perfect but a think twice is harsh.Later would have been better as you make it sound like it will break your PC.I know all about the bad spots etc but they were not so bad that it was unplayable.Unplayable to me is a think twice.
I really can’t put into word’s what I’m trying to say.If I find those words I will post back.I just think you have a higher standard than most people because you do this all the time (mapping).
Thank You Chris. Your honesty in evaluating Pyramid as you see it is valuable information.
You do not just say it’s bad but have pointed out to me what it is you see as it’s failings which gives me direction for how to develop improvements. This is all good feedback. We have conversed by email before and I do find your feedback has always been fair and concerned with how to improve my work. Constructive critisism is a very good thing.
One thing tho, your post directed @Phillip did seem to me a little sarcastic and maybe a bit personal concerning your differences in opinion. Differences in opinion are great, it is what makes life interesting, as long as the discussion is kept to the merits or failings of the mod and we do not challenge other people just because thier opinion is different to our own.
I accept your praise and also accept your critisism in the way it was intended. As I have said, It is all valuable feedback to me.
Regards
Ross Walker
Ultimately, both types of recommendations can be correct. It all depends on how much aesthetic and polish contribute to one’s enjoyment of a certain map, game, film or whatever.
If there are serious bugs as Chris claims, however, it’s a different matter. Let’s say tetris blocks don’t have to look splendid, but they do have to behave as their shape indicates, right?
I played through this mod weighing up the pros and cons against the comments of Chris Fox’s, comments of a perfectionist, commenting more on the mapping then the playing aspects of the mod. For sure it has faults most of which are well covered by the above posts, but I could not see a reason for not playing the game which is challenging in part. However, my opinion changed with the later part of this mod which for me got increasingly more bugger and frustrating and after numerous crashes plus freeze-ups with loading saved games, I gave up and don’t intend to go back.
Finding this mod impossible to finish I would not recommend it to others for I am sure many players will have the same problems and I would not wish them the same frustrations, so when you add all the above posted faults to my playing experience with this mod I can only recommend you don’t play it in its current state.
If I had Beta tested this mod I could not have made a recommendation to the author to release, far better to put it aside for now and go onto something less ambitious and containable for the time being, having gained more experience this could have been polished up and released at a later date.
I have deliberately broken down my review into two segments as I think there are two different debatable issues here, 1) what we think of the mod, 2) should it have been released. I think I gave a definitive answer to 2) but maybe not a fair or complete response to 1).
For long periods of the mod I found it difficult to believe it was by a first time mapper, so much good work, so much playable content such that I can not think of any other first mod by anyone that was this ambitious. So close but not close enough, all through the mod I find myself torn between the good and the bad, promising set designs that in the end lacked imaginative textures and meaningful features. The Combine encounters I found brutal with some emplacements and use of turret guns way over the top, also getting pick-off from long range without the means to hit back with the help of a scope seemed well out of balance to me. Whilst I found the suit without too much effort I still don’t understand a need to conceal it, even with the suit I could not fast forward or scow weapons and against mixed combat of both Combin and Turret guns, I died a lot. The wall mounted switches were way too easy to miss leading to confusion and back tracking, and like the hidden suit you have to ask why? There were parts for this mod that were completely meaningless, what was the point of a glass paneled room full of mixed crabs and zombies, did I miss something?
The author obviously has talent and no doubt great things are to come from his pen, I just hope that more thought and care goes into his next project, one I hope that will be built on the strength of a good story and one that progresses with meaning replacing quantity with quality.
Thanks mel. I appreciate you giving Pyramid a go.
It just makes me wonder what makes it buggy or crash? When I play through it on my PC it never freezes up. Although, I do have a fairly up to date system.
Perhaps it should be tested on a variety of different PC’s to find these problems. I know parts of the maps can be resource hogs so that could be it. I also guess I don’t go exploring the maps well enough to find places where you can get “stuck” and havn’t put it through a proper beta testing program. Playing ok on my PC doesn’t mean it will on others.
Hopefully as I get to know more modders and players and learn from thier feedback and advice, my work will improve.
Cheers
No doubt that part of my problem is down to some of your maps pulling to much power from my system, ‘resource hogs” has you call it. It’s a very long time since I programmed or coded any thing and then nothing on the scale of your project; however, I do remember that efficiency of coding was essential to insure minimizing effect on resource, not sure if any of that has any bearing in this case.
Before I answer some specific points I’d like to make a general statement.
I didn’t encounter any bugs at all (Except for one which is not in the release you have played). I certainly wouldn’t recommend a mod that was full of bugs and it seems that I am in the minority here. Chris Fox was very surprised that I was able to finish the mod without using console commands. Perhaps I was just lucky.
As Kasperg states many possible recommendations are possible ans till valid. I view things from a different perspective that others.
My thinking is more black and white than most. After what I played I would recommend other to play it. However, if it crashes on you a lot then clearly that’s no fun.
However, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have recommended releasing it. Why? because I honestly don’t feel that Ross will be able to solve all the issues within a sensible time frame. He has been told and accepted that this project was/is too big for his skill level. But that’s all in the past. We can’t go back in time and start again. This is what we have and we have to work with it.
I honestly believe that if this mod han’t been released now then it may never have been released. Well, that’s not strictly true. I am sure if we had released a beta then Ross would have fixed some of the bugs but he would have been increasingly frustrated becasue too many errors were made at the beginning to simply “fix” an error. Whole sections would have to be redesigned.
With that in mind I am sure that you and I would prefer he put this mod aside and move onto something new, where all the lessons he has learnt from this can be incorporated.
I disagree with you Mel about “etter to put it aside for now and go onto something less ambitious and containable for the time being, having gained more experience this could have been polished up and released at a later date.” My reasoning is that the mod has too many issues to just be fixed. It needs a complete reworking and I honestly don’t believe that the author would do that.
Even if he would better to use his time to build something new.
I do agree with you though about aprts of the mod, including the glass paneled section. But let’s be honest this is a beginners” error and forgivable in the scheme of things.
Of course in a moid this size we often expect things to be perfect because it is very unusual to see first maps this big.
One last point I’d like to make. I was probably too enthusiastic with my Play It Now! recommendation. But since I got no crashes, didn’t need to cheat and had lots of fun playing it that’s how I felt. As I have mentioned before fun is more important than anything else for me but that’s clearly a very subjective point of view.
I have always felt that a good mod should be fun to play even with orange textures all the way through and the skill of the mapper (Besides the layout) is the details. But those details should add to the final product not define it.
Of course I could be completely wrong, I’m only a player.
But in a sense, these types of games (first person shooters) are among the ones that push technology forward the most to create believable enviroments that look (graphics) and behave (physics) realistically. If ones own sense of having fun is tied to this aspect of a game, then a map with orange dev textures just won’t work the same. Neither would strangely lit areas or unproportionally built elements (rooms that are too high, floors that are too thin etc).
To speak personally, a lack of polish (or rather the more obvious mistakes) in a map, wake me up to reality and tell me in my face that I’m playing something someone did for fun. The sense of immersion is gone (it’s a very important aspect to a lot of FPS players) and with it the fun. I don’t think it’s really a matter of being a perfectionist or not. A lot of maps from HL2 itself are incredibly under-detailed but they still feel part of the same story.
Last but not least, I would also mention that ambitious projects which break from the themes the HL2 cast and materials were made for demand extra care and extra work to look right. If for example one decides to have simpler architecture, then the textures and lightings should be really fine-tuned (think of Portal maps).
I would like to thank the author and P.P. for this mod.
The only bug I encountered was the level where the flaming barrels are rolled down the slope, and me being a soft git ran back down the ramp and through the door into the previous map loading, on return I was trapped against the wall next to the door.
I have played a LOT of bad mods, and this is not one of them.
STATING THE OBVIOUS:-
Without authors,(good or bad), there would not be any mods, and this site would not exist.
So complaining about bugs, (even though your hardware cannot cope), lack of polish, ambiance, and the rest of the drivel above, one should remember THEY ARE FREE !
If you want a game 100% OK – go buy one.
lol
Happy Xmas to you all.
I am pleased you both enjoyed and finished the mod, the point is that others did not. I like most players are very tolerant of faults with custom mods and when it comes to first time mappers the more feed back the better, whether good or bad if it’s constructed it can only be of benefit to the author. My concern with this mod is the fact that I could not finish it due to crashes and failure to load save games towards the end of the mod. I understand that this will not happen to every one, but if it happens to me then it will others. To this end I don’t think the mod was tested enough before release and to release without any address to known issues is not to be encouraged.
I can remember with the release of what most HL players would agree is the best HL2 custom mod ever, i.e. Costline to Atmosphere the game would not play for some of use, in that cast the author Leon devoted a lot of time to putting things right such that we all could play and finish the mod. In this case we have a mod that was under tested and no commitment to put things right, under those circumstance some of us feel justified in airing the negative and as long as it’s constructedive and of use to the author I see no harm.
It’s a difficult choice, whether to release something.
When you’re making your first mod you are filled with passion and drive, but also with huge anxiety. The urge to actually get something out there with your name stamped on it is HUGE. I am sure that I felt similar emotions while making Day 13 that the author of this mod did during this project.
I can only speak from my own experience, but I think that a person’s first mod comes most directly from his imagination than any other. It is unfortunate that there are so many downsides to the “first mod” because in some ways it is the most creative phase of learning.
As you grow more experienced at mapping and modding then you will find almost everything easier to do. This seems very obvious, of course.
However, the ability to inject raw passion into your projects is not part of this equation. As you learn to map “better”, all you will basically be doing is making a big list of rules that you have to follow. And in many ways, these rules will be positive thing, because you’ll look at problems you have to overcome with the engine and you will just instinctively know how to fix them. And that feels nice.
However when it comes to pure creativity, rules are possibly the worst thing you can have, because real limits are imposed and you know there is a fence around what you are doing.
If I had the choice now, I would not have released the Day Series. (for those who don’t know, they were my first released mods for HL2)
I realise that this is a paradox, because if I had not released those maps, then I would not have learned so much from the feedback I got. So for me not to have released them would have been stupid. I know.
But when I look back at those old maps today, they are AWFUL and I would not wish to be associated with them anymore. I’d happily give them away to anyone.
And herein lies the problem. I can’t accept someone’s first maps as “release quality” anymore, no matter how hard I try.
But I can, and will, help those authors improve however I can.
Hi guys…I’m stuck and need an assist here. In the part with the flooded pond…I make the water rise…press the red button…then what?
Overall, a pretty good mod. I’ll reserve final score until I finish it completely. It’s pretty hard on Medium, I had to GOD MODE once I opened the metal fence on the outside of the Pyramid. I don’t like using God Mode, but I also don;t like overwhelming deaths by turrets and dozens of Combine shooting at me! Haha.
Thanks for this free mod.
Jump in the water and go through the grate that’s moved.
Pyramid was discussed during transmission 10435 of Podcast17: http://www.podcast17.com/transmissions/c10435
Thanks Sirocco for this enjoyable mod, since there weren’t any new HL2 mods released lately, I was happy to play this one. I agree with some of the others here that this won’t make mod of the year. I had no crashes though on my very modest PC, but had to lower detail levels a bit more than normal.
I have played a lot of HL/HL2 mods over the years and I think that based on that experience this mod is being treated a bit harsh here. Let’s take it for what it is, a first mod for this programmer. Who really did much better at his first attempt?
I hope scirocco won’t be discouraged from making new mods in the future!
Dear Ross,
You may clean up… delete savegames, chache-files, tmp… just an idea… 🙂
That actually may be my fault. I’m not sure how I uploaded it.
I’ve just finished it, and don’t understand the “buggy” thing that some have reported. Certainly in some of the water areas the water was just a black surface, but other than that it played out pretty smoothly, as I so don’t have a top spec machine…..far from it in fact. (Sadly) But the combat was pretty full-on for a lot of the ride, and in the latter stages more or less off-putting.
There must be a way to avoid those exploding barrels, in the ambush (no spoiler, if you play it you’ll have to deal with them…) and I don’t mean backing into that hidden room either, as every time I did then a barrel came in with me & killed me…….which on (roughly) the sixth attempt forced my to cheat, which is annoying on a first run through, and I so try to avoid it if I can.
Once I’d broken my own rule the rest of the mod was automatically devalued for me. Though three gun-ships at once would challenge anyone……(Except Philip obviously!!)
After the “This is not the end” bit I didn’t really get what came next, as all that happened as far as I could see was that I got sent back to areas I’d already done, full of dead-enemies…..I guess I must have missed something, but as it crashed out not long after I’d got there, in spite of a smooth run through, with the old “Memory xyz could not be referenced” thing, and the fact that it’s a bit late to bother, I gave up.
Overwhelming combat in places, interesting layout & sometimes odd enemy placements, an odd puzzle or two here & there, nothing too strenuous, but otherwise an interesting first mod.
What it really did lack though, which doesn’t always matter I know, was any kind of back-story to it….Which given that so much thought had obviously gone into the project was a shame. & as it’s “Episode 2” based, where were the Hunters?? A couple of acid spitting antlions, (and some of those health-giving larvae, which didn’t….) were all I could see from Ep2……but I might have missed stuff I guess….
Top effort though & I too look forward to anything else that this author releases.
Gypsy Jim
Great mod! I think it rocks completely. But it does have bugs. I was doing good right up to the end and I stopped. Now I can’t get it to start up again. It loads but I’m getting a dark screen and a message saying there’s a problem with the program and the memory can’t be read. This sucks because I made it all the way through this fantastic story without cheating and now I’m at the top of the pyamid and it crashes! So, it may be my pc or maybe not but I’ll keep it around and try to finish it. This is really worth the download if you can run through it with no problems. Looks like some do and some don’t. The action is great and the puzzles are well done. The hidden doors were cool and the many changes of locations from outside to under water to above ground is really nice. I’d say very well done and especially for a rookie! Keep em comin my friend!
Whilst I agree with Chris that this mod has many of the problems associated with a new mapper, particularly poor use of lighting and a lack of beta-testing, I do not agree that it should not have been released. If you follow Chris” arguments to their logical conclusion, then no mods would ever be released as they can always be improved upon! So thank you to everyone who has the courage to release mods, no matter how good or bad. This one definitely shows promise, but I found it to be very hard to play all the way through in its present state.
Yeah, you’re right. I talked about it in the forums somewhere after I made that original post, and after more thought I realised what you said above. It should have been released, because in the end the author gets the most feedback that way. If you’re really, really bored you can go find my forum post about it. 🙂
Hello again.
I have just returned from 10 days holiday on a remote island in the Pacific and have been out of touch with the world in general. Wow ! I am amazed at the interest Pyramid has generated.
Thank you Phillip for convincing me to release Pyramid as it stands. I have learned so much from the experience and realise it was the right thing to do at the time.
Thank you to all the people who have played it and left feedback. it’s all good information for me to assimilate and hopefully the benefits I gain from this will reflect in my work in the future.
The idea behind the Final Hub Map was that once a player finishes the main gameplay and if they can sit through the credits, then they go to the Hub where they will discover that there are secret doors to each map that all connect together in the Hub. I thought this would be a good idea to try and boost the mods replayability because, after you know where the secret doors are located, you can restart the game and go to the hub at anytime to boost your health or weaponry and also enter or leave the maps as you desire.
If anyone who has reached this point can give me feedback on the worth of this option, I would appreciate it.
Once again, Thank you everyone for accepting my work and I hope to deliver smaller but higher quality maps in the future as I work my way towards competency in this field. Although it is still only a hobby, mapping is something I love to do and would, maybe if I become good enough at it, like to make my vocation.
Anyone wanting to contact me by email can find my email address on My Pyramid Mod Page http://www.rosswalker.net-a.googlepages.com/pyramidpower which is linked to from my home page that the Sirocco Developer Link refers to when you load Pyramid into steam.
Best Regards
Ross Walker
I thought this was an okay map pack–not a great one, but still a challenging romp thru some interesting architecture. I was puzzled by a few things tho’: like, what was the purpose of the pyramid?–is it supposed to be somewhere in Egypt?, or is it a landing pad for a Goa’uld mothership?
Anyway, there were clipping problems and crappy graphics in some places, but it was still fairly fun–a good way to kill some time if you’re bored while waiting for Black Mesa Source.
this is absolutly my faverote I suggest all play this terrific mod!!
Has Chris Fox had his nose put out of joint or something?
I agree with Phillip. Great Mod although the lower slopes of the pyramid were a little over populated.
I had no bugs and played through to the end with no cheats needed at all.
Best played in Easy first so that you get to the final map and then the penny will drop and you can enjoy harder skill levels.
The smell of your post is quite clear!
I want to start out with saying that I haven’t finished playing this modification and I won’t. I have given it two hours of many replays and frustration. I really don’t enjoy it, at all.
SPOILERS!!
This is my experience…
The introduction didn’t make sense to me…in a bad way. I am up in the air, then Gman leaves the scene with him exploding. Then when I retrieve control I start out on the ground, in another room? I read that there is a suit nearby, so before exiting the through the window I explore. After struggling through the weird terrain, pass the species I see the suit behind a field. I can’t reach it from the side, so I continued without it.. until I died a million times and was painfully frustrated. I gave up.
Then, some hours later, I got back wanting to give it another try. I was convinced I had to have the suit, since the game was so flawed without it. So after giving up crouch, jump and deactivate what I thought was a force field, I shot in frustration and noticed how it was glass and not a field. So I finally got my suit!
But moments later I left the game. It was hard, buggy, boring and the setting and choices didn’t make any sense to me. When I died I was given the worst possible start point, in the middle of a fight. Not once, but in several locations. This is a serious flaw. I had to start from the begining, making Quick Saves instead of relying on Auto Saves.
The encounters were static, with combine soldiers just standing still shooting. No movement. Often the enemy was introduced around corners and many times I was shoot in the back.
I wanted to like this due to all the positive comments, but after failing to like it the second time I gave up and removed it.
Difficult to rate…it seemed pretty unpolished to me, I encountered a bug where I was killed instantly and I don’t like to search my HEV and fight many enemies before I find it.
But on the other hand it had something that appealed to me…I’d say Consider It… according to the comments here it seems to be a “love or hate” thing.
if there will be a polished version one day i’ll definitely try it again!
Well,I played this mod but gave up after getting to the pyramid. Half way up I couldn’t see where I was walking or the levels of the pyramid. So it still needs some work. Very nice try Sirocco! Thank You Mr. Phillip, For bringing these mods!
Wow, Lots of comments, that alone would indicate that the mod has some good merit.
I have not yet finished it, I’m stuck behind a green barrier of some sort after coming out of the water from the underground portion of the map. cannot determine whether I missed something or this is a bug, In reading the comments I think I may have missed something as there is no mention of what I am seeing. And personally I did not have any trouble running this one, other than my own slow witted, “How do you turn off this damn field’, same problem that WizardExt had, however I did finally break the “glass’? during the play.
I found that the difficulty was good, really had to use my brain for this one. Learned a few things the hard way in a few locations, I am so glad I save often. some good suprises and overall I am quite enjoying, would more if I could get past the damn green barrier.
Hi Guyfleegman, I assume you have disabled the first green barrier using the button on the wall behind the combine soldier in the short hallway. After that there is another combine soldier to pass and another green barrier. This is the one I assume you are stuck behind. If you break the steel grate in the stairwell at the bottom of the stairs at the second green barrier, follow the passageways to find another unlock button somewhere down into more water filled passageways.
Opps I forgot to say to Black Dog that climbing the outside of the pyramid is not the way in. I should have made it impossible to even get on the pyramid from there. My bad.
Spoiler
At the bottom of the stairs to the pyramid you have to go around thru the broken gate to your left to another bunker where there is a button that unlocks the statue door letting you down into the sewers. It also starts the force field closing off the top of the Pyramid. Getting back to the statue and avoiding all the combine on the Pyramid you can try climbing over the antlion mound. there is a path that’s hard to see but there all the same.Try that way.
Thanks for the enthusiasm both of you. I appreciate it
One more thing. I wonder how many people would be interested in a walkthru for the Mod?
Let me know or perhaps Phillip could ask a Poll Question inviting comments on for example–
“How many people would like to have access to a walk thru for the more difficult mods?”
It would take some time but I am willing if there is enough interest.
Cheers
I would recommend just a “Cheat Sheet”, which contains the basics for the areas that players could have trouble with.
To: Sirocco
I,for one would appreciate a walkthru. Especially with these mods that generate a lot of comments of being stuck during game play. lol
To: Mr.Phillip
Cheat Sheet? Afraid I don’t know what that is.
A Cheat Sheet, is the idea of some basic instructions rather than a detail list of everything you need to do etc. Think of it as more a collection of hints rathar than anything explicit. Something like this: MOP Hints.
To: Mr.Phillip
Thank you for your prompt response. Although, I still don’t really comprehend completely. I think I get the picture.
Please, call me Phillip not Mr Phillip. An example would be: Walkthrough: “Open the door and move to the far corner. Press the Green button and exit via the other door and…” A Cheat Sheet would be more like “Find a button that will allow you to exit a new way”
“The title of Mr, like any other title, is a term of respect, and failure to use it where it might be expected may be interpreted as a sign of (perhaps deliberate) disrespect, though it is commonly not used among close friends or in other familiar settings”.
O.K. Now, I know the difference. Either one would suffice.
Black Dog, thank you for the respect. However, I wasn’t complaining of your use of Mr., just requesting that you do not use it. I want readers to feel my e1qual, because you are. I am just a player, same as you. In fact probably worse than you!
O.K., Mr.Phillip, er! I mean Phillip :).
I can just taste victory, but it is not to be. I am at image 28. My computer froze on me when I tried to load a save point.
I got this error:
The Instruction at “0x10a5806f” reference memory at “0x0ef90454”. The Memory could not be “Read”.
Click on O.K. to Terminate The Program.
I’ve had to reset my desktop several time’s especially when to lit barrels came down the ramp.
I don’t think it’s my computer. This is what I have.
Dell XPS 720
Intel Q6600
Nvidia GT 8800
Windows XP
2.40 GHz 2.00 of RAM
DirectX 9.0c
It’s not your computer. Many of us had the same problem. I never did finish this game beacuse of it.
To Black Dog and Robspace1,
I am sorry you guys are having the problems that you are with my Mod. It is entirely my fault for not play testing it or refining it enough before release. You have to understand I made the whole thing while I was teaching myself how to use hammer and having fun playing what I was making.
To those who don’t know, hammer isn’t that hard to use and is like a game in itself. You make the map and play it. Set goals and obstacles for yourself and overcome them.
I have had my computer freeze up on top of the Pyramid also. There is too many things happening at once that it overloads your memory and crashes. Especially if you are moving or looking wildly around. Too many physical objects falling or exploding. The best thing to do is stay still and wait for it all to happen. I was over-zealous, wanting too much to happen, and not having the skills needed to make it work. As pointed out earlier by others,
I tried to run before I could walk. I can see that now in retrospect.
Spoiler ahead
All that aside and one possible fix I would recommend is to delete and replace Pyramid then restart a New Game at map 6 Combine Massacre. You will have to play the upper level again but there is plenty of ammo and it’s one I like to think has plenty of replayability, if that is a word. Once you take out the guards at the top of the stairs and grenade the turrents, get up the stairs and take out most of the others below at your leisure. From there, after you get to the top and take out the gunships, you are nearly to the end. If you do make it there, wait until the credits roll and there is an extra map to check out.
Thanks for giving Pyramid a go and all the feedback. Cheers
That’s not true. I bear a lot of responsibility in this matter by encouraging Sirocco to release when he did. This was done with the best intentions because I truly believe that it would have taken too long to correct all the issues. Normally this beta testing process is a gradual process but in this case it would have meant a lot more work because the mod was “finished”.
I have stated before that if Sirocco had agreed to correct all the errors he wouldn’t have been able to do it without almost rebuilding the mod. It was/is therefore my opinion to release as is and spend the time he would have spent on correcting the errors on a new mod.
Phew! I hope you all understand.
To: Sirocco
No need to apologize. I was not complaining. I was just pointing out my problems with the mod. I really enjoy the mod,and it would be a “Personal Favorite” if/when you would fix the bugs.
I would like to thank you Sirocco for making this mod!
P.S. Don’t be discourage!
To: Phillip
If you had not encourage Sirocco then I would have not gotten the opportunity to play this mod.
Like you said “This was done with the best intentions” and that is all that is needed.
I just finish the game. Except for the bugs this mods is very good!
To: Sirocco
Why the anti-lions at the end and not during the game?
Possible spoilers ahead.
To BlackDog,
Let’s see, there’s a couple of Antlions in the first room with the HEV Suit, there’s an infestation in and below the courtyard in front of the Pyramid, some Antlions trapped inside cells in the Pyramid, possibly for experimental purposes and some have gotten free to breed, then Antlions escaping when you disturb the nest below by destroying the Pyramid. I thought that was plenty.
I’m glad you liked my mod.
Thanks for the praise and I wish you well.
I guess I’m showing my age! I forgot about those Antlions. lol
Sirocco-I have played the big majority of all these HL2 mods and map packs and I keep a mental list which ones II liked and which ones I may want to replay. This mod went into that list because of it being different and just alot of fun to figure out. So, when I got to the top of the pyramid, it did just what you said and crashed. Now, I have an AGP system and so I can partly blame it on my card. However.Radeon just released a new driver for my card and I installed it and I just finished playing the new Strider Mountain with all the settings on the highest level! That’s a first.Most the mods I need to turn the video down. So, I really like your mod and I’m going to try it again. I figure if I can make it all the way through SM with no errors at all, I should be able to get through yours as well. Well, hopefully. I’ll give it another shot. I really want to finsh this one a check out the bonus round. Either way-thanks for the effort and look forward to your next one.
Just replayed it and even with the new graphics card driver update, it still crashed on me about 5 times. I had to reboot. I was able to complete the entire mod though this time, and I still really like it. It’s just really too bad it has so many bugs. Also, the ending needs some work. It needs more of a bigger bang for the grande finale. More explosives and bigger bombs would help.After going through all that ambush fighting and stealth attacks from behind bushes and boxes, you would expect some kind of reward at the end. It’s just to anticlimatic. So, if the bugs were gone and it was stretched out another 50 mbs with a better ending it could become a favorite mod for a lot of people. There’s enough puzzles to possibly play it again once it’s been cleaned up and road tested some more. thanks again-it was fun-
When I started this I expected problems but it has run fine except for a few odd moments – no weapon change function initially then it came back after reloading a saved game (?) and having survived the room with the three barrels then moving back into the previous location to collect more ammo I’ve been frozen several times after it loads. Having collected additional ammo I went through a different door just near where the three barrel event happens and found myself in the hub and saw the end sequence.
I’m not a mapper but as a player its an engaging mod with good length. I am enjoying the trip and the layout of the different challenges requires tactical thought which I really like.
I have reached the area with the two glass enclosures with the zombies and headcrabs etc. Killed everything and gone through all the various doors but now I am stuck. There is one gate still closed at the stairs near the open area with four turrets and manhacks just before entering the water and reaching the glass cages place. I can see a button inside through the bars and a further set of stairs but how do I get in there? Do I use the hub?
Any help would be appreciated, I’d like to finish the mod.
btw my recommendation is based on the level of enjoyment its providing me – good stuff.
Hi PaddyL,
I’m glad you are enjoying the Pyramid. Thanks for giving it a go.
Spoiler ahead…
If you go up the stairs in the room with the Antlion Guard in the Glass Cage to the door on the landing overlooking the room with the caged head crabs, then go thru the door, watch out for the 3 guards, take them out and there is a button to your right that will unlock the Barred Door in the original room. It also winds down the Engine room sounds. Then you’re up the stairs again to the Weapon Store and nearly there. Tho if you’ve played that area from the hub, it may play different than if you hadn’t found it first.. mmmm You got me thinking now about how it would play. Anyway…..
Hope that helps.
Finding the hub would have made it very different for you than if you had played it thru first without finding it like most people do as that was the way I tried to map it to work. Good for you and great feedback for me.
Thank You
Thanks Sirocco, mission accomplished, recommendation stands, look forward to more.
Thanks for the update Sirocco, I’ll get back in shortly and see if if can follow your instructions. From the sounds of it we are talking about the same place, I must have just missed the grate, Wow I never do that… p-}
And thanks for the work you put into this, I really like the different aspects that were put together in this mod.
Ok, so I just missed the damn button, the light green, Glass?, square at the end of the hall after you come out of the water.
Continuing on, will update further as I get more accomplished. So far I still am liking it some great variety in setup and battle.
Later on…
Just finished Pyramid, never thought I would.
Got to the pyramid the first time and kept dying.
Started mod a second time and found the HEV suit behind the glass! Silly me.
Not perfect, but a very tricky and enjoyable mod.
Thankyou Ross Walker and all concerned.
Boy, that was hard even on Easy. Well, hard-ish. You will take damage. You will wonder if you have enough of the right ammo–but you will, or you’ll make do.
Not perfect, as said–not all the ladders worked, the way forward wasn’t always obvious (I finally figured out the first gate on my own; only found out how to pass the second underwater gate by coming here)–but enjoyable.
I must admit, I am quite surprised to see so many users giving this mod a 5-star rating.
IMHO,
This was quite a poorly done mod. Still, the author deserves something for the bit of effort he put into making this. Still, I’d recommend avoiding this. The quantity of high votes fooled me into playing it.
Pyramid is one of those mods which doesn’t make any attempt to create an extension of the Half-Life world, instead focusing on dealing with some elements and a variety of HL enemies in a completely new setting. So from that perspective, it kept my interest, because not only was the environment quite original, but also some of the methods required to get through certain situations in the game. However, because of the placement of enemies, most battles turned into a shooting gallery scene, and I also noticed it often wasn’t difficult to kill them before they got sight of me. This fact, plus puzzles that despite being interesting were a little easy to me, left me feeling I wanted more of a challenge.
The general layouts of the maps were fairly linear, but I noticed numerous examples of lack of detail: For example some food on a table was only rendered on one side, and also using a box to jump up onto the pyramid at one point allowed me into an area the designer probably didn’t intend, as the map was just blank, with enemies “floating” in the air – very strange. When I did stay in the places I was supposed to, I found the lighting not dynamic enough for the environments. Besides the map idiosyncrasies, some of the text displayed by the game was cut off, but this may be because of the version of the Source engine I’m using. Also, some of the sequences in the game are based on the player’s position in a particular area, and I managed to miss a sequenced action so that I was unable to continue and had to go back to a previously saved point.
In general, these shortcomings didn’t prevent me from having a little fun with maps, and complete the game in a couple of hours. However, because of my extreme curiosity, I accidentally spoiled the after-the-ending-credits surprise, discovering it less than halfway through. I really wish I hadn’t, because it changes things so much that I had to force myself to continue with the “normal” player experience. I must say, though, that the surprise itself is very very inventive. I don’t want to spoil it for any of you, so I’ll just say if you don’t mind a set of maps which aren’t completely polished, this mod makes for a fun afternoon or evening ride if you have the time.
I played this map successfully in the latest version of Half-Life 2: Ep2 on the Windows version of Steam, and besides the map and text glitches mentioned above, I saw no other compatibility issues. However, this mod will not run on a Mac in the current version of the Source engine as of October 2010.
Definitly cool, with a harsh beginning (the guards on the base of the pyramid were a real pain in the ***) but the climax is a masterpiece of epic fighting and blockbuster-ing explosion…!
Rough around the edges and too many secrets
Can’t find the download anywhere. This link don’t work. Googled, can’t find the download link. Can somebody help me out? BTW keithinvietnam, like I keep saying. Mods are not Half-Life, nor have any part of it, anybody can do what they want to mods. But I respect everyone’s opinions, so it’s okay if you think that.
I have updated the link to point to my server. Sorry for the inconvenience.
That’s okay! Thanks!
Thanks Phillip for updating the link.
I have not been paying much attention to these old mods of mine for a while and was not aware the file had been taken down from filefront.
Only yesterday one of my students (who also maps with hammer) informed me the link was broken and I sent him the file through Dropbox.
I hope all is well in your world.
Cheers mate
It hasn’t, it’s just that the link to the file has been changed because of some complicated technical issue.
Pyramid was a very fun mod to play! Enviroment could’ve been better, but no matter! Found a secret to the Map select level in the 4th level. Lots of Combines. Couldn’t kill all of them on the Pyramid. If you can’t find the HEV Suit in the beginning, go to the door on the left of the window in the very beginning, fight a couple of Antlions, and it’s behind the rocks, or whatever it is. Break the class and there’s your suit!
Pretty great perspective for this mod, the CMB have some big Sh*t there into that enormous big pyramid somewhere in mexican, centralamerican- whatever location u may want, so G-Man sends freeman to reap cmb plans appart as allways in the good violent impulsive freeman’s way, so be ready for some big action and pure cmb combat here, also plan well ur strategy to beat those hated malefactors because you are going to be only yourself against a whole CMB divission especially on guard there at the pyramid, taking care of whatever CMB plans, as I said I love the concept here and I thought even with the annoying text advices in every button you use the whole map feels good with tons of actions an bullets in every second, I hope this have a better enhaced 2nd part or somethin to follows this story, I loved it and so u must play it, also I don’t know why but this mod seemed to me a little like the ones that Leon’s Brinkman does, I mean just in the style of those that leon’s does.
Pretty darn good!
This mod is good in most places. There’s one chapter I hate but I’m gonna review all the chapters individually. Here we go.
Chapter One – Where Am I? What’s Going On?
The shortest chapter ever. GMan does a thing then stuff explodes, the end.
Chapter Two – Freeman Has Begun His Mission
Cool environment. Most of the enemies are Elites but at least they give you the stuff to deal with them. There’s no crowbar I could find which is kind of annoying but doesn’t have too much of an impact. Small but fun level.
Chapter Three – Antlion Escapade
I really like this one. It’s small but fun. The environment is interesting and the action is good. There aren’t as many Antlions as the title suggests but there are quite a few (including a guard). The chapter is mainly about getting to buttons and pressing them. I like it.
Chapter Four – In Through the Sewers
This chapter isn’t horrible but what it is is pointless and short. There’s two parts, one with a huge room filled with elites and Metrocops. This one is good because there’s many parts of the environment to use for cover. The second part is where there’s a bunch of hallways and switches. I don’t like this part. There’s turrets at the end of narrow hallways that are impossible to avoid. Oh yeah and you can pick up a weird glitchy version of Alyx’s pistol in this chapter. I don’t have any idea why.
Chapter Five – Internal Insurrection
Let’s start off with the positives. The zombie and antlion areas were interesting and fun. I like the atmosphere, it’s mysterious. Almost like a Matrix-y sci-fi movie. Now onto the negatives. This level is horrible. Firstly, worst start to any level ever. That trap was almost undodgable. I hated it. Secondly, the level design is abysmal. There’s long corridors with no cover and turrets at the end that are literally impossible to dodge. There’s wide open rooms full of Elites with no cover. There’s parts where they give you what you needed right AFTER you needed it. It’s apalling. I wanted to like this level because the atmosphere was cool but I just can’t. It’s one of the worst FPS levels I’ve played.
Chapter Six – Combine Massacre
I came out of the last level in a bad mood. This lightened me up. There’s a big room filled with dudes to fight which is fun because of the layout. There’s many places to hide and lots of Elites and Manhacks to fight. Then you go on top of the pyramid and fight a gunship which is fun. It’s a short chapter but it’s certainly fun.
Chapter Seven – Passage Out of There
and
Chapter Eight – Pyramid Destruction
are the exact same chapter for some reason.
You fight a few Elites then the pyramid explodes. It’s rather entertaining. Also it calls the mod “Pyramid Power” even though the title screen just says Pyramid. Wut.
Overall, if you’re not OCD like me, I would say skip Chapter Five but play the rest.
Manually
Medium
1 Hour
I’m back!
I really don’t get why there are so many positive reviews for this. Without intending to sound mean, I thought this mod was atrocious. First off, it’s ugly. All the architecture is blocky and there aren’t enough textures used so it feels nothing like it’s real in a bad way. Second off, the events make no sense. A lot of the mod is finding buttons that open random places. Much of the mod is also told to you through “intel”, which is just text on the screen. Also, there’s no story from what I can tell.
Now, on to the gameplay… it’s really bad. In one of the first levels, I pressed a button. “Intel” informed me that “the entry gate is broken”, apparently thanks to me. So I go into a destroyed building while under fire from Combine I literally cannot get rid of. I press the button and it tells me the gate has been opened. So I have to go closer to the source of the firing that is constantly chipping at my health to go into another building to kill some guys and press a button, then that opens another building in which I break the floor to find a button that allows me to enter the pyramid… WHAT?
The combat’s bad too. Enemies are just everywhere in this mod, expect to constantly be under fire (as in every second until you get stuck looking for a button). Enemies are often placed at the ends of long hallways, especially turrets. Speaking of turrets, they’re absolutely everywhere, along with elites… I think there are more elites in this mod than there are in the entire official Half-Life series. There are even some useless rooms that lead nowhere.
I just can’t think of anything good to say about this mod, in my opinion you should definitely avoid it.
Manually
Medium
56 Minutes
Welcome back.
Thanks! I’m glad I finally got both my internet AND my HL2 working again.
This is not the worst mod I’ve ever played, but it’s definitely not the best either.
The combat for me is a mixed bag. Sometimes it can be fun and entertaining, but other times it is just cheap, unfair and not fun at all. The mapping is not that great, since there are a lot of areas that are huge but have nothing in them. The texturing is also pretty random. The Pyramid itself though isn’t terrible to look at and for a first attempt, it is quite impressive. Also, this mod is quite lengthy.
Overall, this mod may have some entertaining moments, but other than that, you may not like it due to the empty environment and the difficult combat.
Combat in this mod is VERY intense and quickly becomes more tedious than fun. Approximate number of elites and turrets in this mod is roughly 7,4 billion. That said, I played it from start to finish and would not say that I didn’t have any fun. At times it actually feels more like a HL1 mod.
What I didn’t like was the well-hidden HEV-suit and that you have to wait for your crowbar until the third(!) map, making you shoot all the crates before with your SMG or your shotgun.
In order to play this mod you have to modify the gameinfo.txt as follows:
“GameInfo”
{
name “Pyramid”
game “Pyramid”
title “Pyramid”
title2 “”
type singleplayer_only
icon “resource\icon”
homepage “”
developer “”
FileSystem
{
SteamAppId 420
ToolsAppId 211
AdditionalContentId 220
SearchPaths
{
game+mod |gameinfo_path|.
platform |gameinfo_path|.
game_lv hl2/hl2_lv.vpk
game+mod ep2/ep2_english.vpk
game+mod ep2/ep2_pak.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_english.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_pak.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_english.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_pak.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk
platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk
mod+mod_write+default_write_path |gameinfo_path|.
game+game_write |gameinfo_path|.
gamebin episodic/bin
game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic
game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2
platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform
}
}
}
Manually
Medium
1 Hour, 25 Minutes
Not very good. Disconnected and unrealistic. Worth a play through barely.
Manually
Easy
30 Minutes
can’t find background image
materials/console/startup_loading.vtf.
Also got cannot load library client.
Why can’t mod builders test their systems better ?
This was released 12 years ago. Valve makes changes that stop mods from working. Modders can not be expected to provide support for mods forever. Accept that when trying mods a few years old, these things happen.
For anyone having trouble launching the mod, I was able to fix it by installing the patch file on moddb. I don’t think I’m allowed to put links in comments, so just search for “pyramid patch moddb” and it should be the first result
https://www.moddb.com/games/half-life-2-episode-two/downloads/pyramid-patch
Thanks for the comment.
You can post links, it’ll just usually hold the comment for moderation instead of posting it immediately.
Pyramid was the satisfying map played.
https://youtu.be/YK8LNHHKOo8
Manually
Easy
34 Minutes