VerticalVille

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

23rd September 2012

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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

VerticalVille is the fifth in the 6×10 Mapping Competition series.

As the name suggests, the theme was to create a map with a vertical feel.

There are 5 entries to play.

Basic Details
  • Title: VerticalVille
  • File Name: hl2-ep2-sp-6x10mc-verticalville.7z
  • Size : 31.1MB
  • Author: Tony DeBlasio, Alastair Toft, Justin Carlton, David Newel & David Lundvall
  • Date Released: 23 September 2012
Judging

The winner will be the map that uses the concept of “vertical gameplay” in the most interesting way, combined with a map that is enjoyable to play.
Length is not a major consideration but very short maps must compensate by providing something intense or amazing.

Sponsor and Prize

This competition is being kindly sponsored by EpicTimez.Com.

The prize, in addition to the points, is L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition AND Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.

Credits

A background map, made by The_Blazer, is included in this release but not used.
The PlanetPhillip.Com intro video was made by Spartan301
Thanks go to both of them for their time and effort.

Custom Gridview Image

A gridview icon is included in the file. To use the included grid view icon, select “Grid View” in Steam (top right corner). Right click on “VerticalVille” and select “Set Custom Image”. Then browse to the SourceMods folder and then then to Verticalvill and select “verticalville-gridview-01.jpg”. Then click “Set Image” and that’s it.
Of course, you can create your own custom image if you prefer.

Download Options

Download to your HDD [31.1MB]

Installation Instructions
  • Copy the verticalville folder into your SourceMods folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • VerticalVille should now be listed in your Library tab.

If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.

Inter-Review with Phillip and Emanuel

Videos

The playthrough below is provided by Podcast 17 Let’s Play. See more of the playthroughs on this site: VP: Podcast 17

The playthrough below is provided by Custom Gamer as part of The Ville Retrospective event.
See more of his playthroughs on this site: VP: Custom Gamer.

Gordon’s Ups and Downs by Tony DeBlasio

This map takes the simple concept of a small elevator with a number of rooms and areas are various levels. Each level requires some combat and puzzle solving. it’s certainly not a bad entry but it’s possible to “cheat” and avoid most of the map. As the elevator drops, it’s possible to jump onto the highest floor.

I didn’t really feel that this entry exploited the vertical aspect of the theme.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Secret of the Coast by Alastair Toft

Almost taking Minerva: Metastasis as its starting premise, this map contains some pretty hard combat. I died quite a few times. The internal Combine area was quite nicely built but it felt too linear. I would jhave prefered the time and effort the author put into getting us to the internal area be put into making that area more detailed and more open.

Whilst I found it certainly fun to play, it left me feeling stressed instead of excited.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Ventilation by Justin Carlton AKA Sneakyspeckman

I must admit to having some initial trouble with this map, but that’s because I didn’t think about the fan speed (hint!!). Once I got that figured out it was fun working up and down through the shafts.

The combat was challenging but not impossible and the overall feel felt right.

As with most of Justin’s maps, this one was pertty big but I had no graphical issues.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Vertizontal by David Newel AKA DeadCamper

David really took the concept and turn it on its head. I actually felt a little dizzy playing this and it was a challenge. In fact, playing a normal map afterwards seems really weird.

The problem for me was the limited gameplay aspects. It was just a case of “dropping” carefully.

Still, a very memorable entry.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Zipline by David Lundvall AKA WizardExt

The most interesting aspect of this entry was the actual zipline. Unfortunately, it was so short that it could ahve been omitted and hardly affected the overal feel of the map. If the main aspect had been the zipline, with various routes to take, perhasp down the side of a mountain, then it could have provided som replayability.

The general feel of the amp is very similar to Half-Life 2, which is great, but there wasn’t enough vertical movement for my liking.

The final battle was excellent and the placement of enemies just right. Unfortunately, one combine soldier got stuck behind a building and the ending lost some of its climax.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
And the winner is�

Ventilation is the winner.

I was torn between Ventilation and Vertizontal for a while. I certainly want to reward and acknowledge creative thinking and Vertizontal did a fantastic job of using the theme in an interesting way. The problem was that I found it quite frustrating to play and died so many times that I nearly gave up. I think that if it had been just a little easier and included some other elements beside “dropping” carefully then it might have won.

The other enteries were all quite good and I enjoyed playing them all.

As always, I would like to say “thank you” to all the entrants.

The Points

All entrants get 5 points for entering. Justin gets 5 points for winning. David Newel gets 4 points; 2 for the map’s title and 2 for the basic concept. David Lundvall gets 2 points for the zipline.

Your chance to vote


Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!
19 recommendations, average score: 4.84 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.13 (what's that?)
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 15 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 15 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 33 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 40 Mins by Daken50
Longest: 2 Hours, 35 Mins by Hec
Total Time Played: 23 Hours, 22 Mins
Categories (?)
Half-Life 2: Ep2 HL2-EP2 Mods Play
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49 Comments

  1. PlanetPhillip
    Phillip says Play It!

    Some great entries here and some good ones too.

    I know that some people felt the theme was too limiting but I feel the results speak for themselves.

    I have written a short piece for each entry and won’t repeat it here.

    All I’ll say is that two entries stick out as the pick of the bunch.

    I’m pretty sure you will enjoy most, if not all, of the entries.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 40 Minutes
    Reply
  2. Miigga1
    Play It Now!

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs

    I think this is an improvement from this author’s previous maps. The logical links between the player’s actions and what happens in the game world are still a bit unclear but it isn’t as confusing as this author’s previous maps.

    Even though you have to climb an elevator shaft, the majority of this map does not feel particularly vertical.

    Secret of the Coast

    Weird map, didn’t even manage to complete it, not much to say

    The combat is quite dull because it mostly consists of combine soldiers standing there, shooting at me.

    Ventilation

    Lots of verticalness. I don’t have much to say other than that this map is quite good and definitely the best one so far.

    Vertizontal

    While this map is not visually pleasing, it is certainly the most fun map. It reminded me of an Uncle Scrooge comic written by Don Rosa, namely this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Some_Gravity

    Very fun map to play. Also lots of verticalness.

    Zipline

    I wish the mapper didn’t use batteries as detail because those are generally used for puzzles.

    Other than that, this map is cool and has a feeling of verticalness. It’s perhaps a bit too generic.

    _______________________

    Ventilation and Vertizontal are definitely the best maps in VerticalVille. Not sure which one I would’ve awarded victory to if it had been up to me.

    Reply
    1. WizardExt

      Not quite sure why it’s wrong to use batteries as detail, especially where they make sense and when there is no puzzle solving nearby. Thanks for calling my map both cool and generic at the same time, never had that before. 🙂

      Reply
  3. MisterAddy
    Play It Now!

    Another good selection of entries for this competition, and my map ;).

    Gordon’s ups and Downs

    This entry is made up of several floors of gameplay connected by one lift shaft. Each area has a nice selection of combat and puzzle, but taken individually they are not really “vertical”. I liked the raising water puzzle too. My criticism would be that the tiny ledges in the elevator shaft were stupidly small but apart from that it was fun. A small mapping tip; I don’t think the level included any env_cubemaps, they should be added and you should type buildcubemaps in game because otherwise the reflections look weird.

    Secret of the Coast

    My map, hope everyone enjoys! With regards to Phillip’s criticisms, I find it very hard to guage the difficulty of maps, since I had very little platytesting time and only one tester! I suppose I could have extended the inside area, but time was not on my side :). There were also some things I wish I could have improved, for example the main cliff looks like a huge block shoved into the middle of the ocean, rather than an actual part of the coast.

    Ventilation

    Ahhh, giant fan puzzles… Reminds me of the good old days of Star Wars Jedi Knight! I’ll admit that I spend quite a while without the slightest clue what I was doing, especially realising I could rip the Combine computers off the walls. I liked the use of the Combine core particle effect, we don’t see much use of those effects in maps. The combat opportunities were nice, but the super gravity gun is so overpowered that nobody is really a threat to us. Overall it was very enjoyable, nice work!

    Vertizontal

    If we’re judging on the “verticality” of entries, this is certainly the winner!! This is a great concept to exploit the theme to its full. The “storyline” also fitted the wacky idea. The only issue is that there is no gameplay apart from falling. I also found the last part with the falling cars extremely hard.

    Zipline

    Last, but not least! I’d say the title of this map is misleading, because it makes the actual ziplining very anticlimatic. Maybe there should have been more explosions ;D. Other than that, the city is very well made, looks convincing and is fun to play in. There is some nice vertical gameplay in getting to the rooftops. And the conlusion, whilst definitely exciting, was really over the top. Snipers, soldiers and a helicopter?? I was relieved when it was over!

    I am finding it very hard to pick a favourite (excluding mine obviously ;)) becuase I found something enjoyable in all the maps. Ventilation had the most spectacle, Zipline had the best graphics, Gordon’s Ups and Downs had the most variety of gameplay, and Vertizontal had the most unique idea. I loved them all!!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 30 Minutes
    Reply
    1. WizardExt

      I should have made the Helicopter shoot rockets at you, then you would have more explosions. But then the final battle might have been a bit too hard. 😉

      I almost feel bad for naming the level Zipline. I didn’t mean to hype it or anything. I feel people expected more from the actual zipline part, hehe.

      Reply
  4. Dalannar
    Play It Now!

    I felt this theme was too restricting especially when you consider that fps’s aren’t always the best games for vertical gameplay, or atleast that’s how I feel.

    I’m sorry if I seem very critical of some of the entries but I feel this is necessary if people are to get better with their future projects. I certainly would like it if I actually got around and finished my maps.

    Gordon’s ups and Downs

    I felt too claustrophobic playing this entry. Everything seemed very small and nothing felt very realistic to me, especially the keypad. I know this as be used in a previous competition and I can’t really expect anyone to have liked it so why do it again? Even worse, for some reason the game wouldn’t give me a crosshair in any of the maps so it was really hard to type it out correctly.

    Secret of the Coast

    I have to be honest I didn’t actually finish this one. It just didn’t captivate me. What killed it for me was the visuals. How a game looks is very important for me. I don’t mean that it must have the best graphics in the world but that it needs to be well done and it needs to make sense. When I spawned in the map and saw that the mountains in the skybox didn’t have scaled down textures or that the water did not align I knew I wasn’t going to like it. This coupled with a pretty average gameplay led to a dissappointing entry for me.

    Ventilation

    This one took me by surprise. I didn’t think there would be an entry that took the vertical element in such a creative way. I really liked the way you had to adjust the fans speeds and the explosion of the core was really cool. Some creative touches such has having to destroy the control panels to open the doors also put it above the rest.

    For me this was the best entry and worthy of winning.

    Vertizontal

    While I was waiting for the map to load I had a bad feeling because the title seemed kinda crappy and the thumbnail for the map really didn’t make it justice. It looked like a terrible entry before you could actually play it but once I was in control I liked alot. It felt very weird to play but for some reason I was trying to find the best route to take and trying to not take a singe point on damage. In the end I gave up but I’m sure it was possible.

    While I would not consider it worthy of winning it was still a great map.

    Zipline

    I was very excited to play this one. For the forestville competition I was planning on building a zipline that the player would use to descend a cliff but it the end I ended up getting frustrated at how the map was looking like and didn’t finish it. While the zipline was well done it was very short and didn’t feel like the focal point for the map.

    I would consider this entry as the winner if it wasn’t for a vertical gameplay competition. The city was really good looking and after a very long time waiting I’ve finnaly played a mod/map that portraits a city that follows realistic standards. Almost every mod/map out there features unrealistic looking cities/towns and I really hate them for that. It just missed some more vertical elements and a longer zipline or two.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    1 Hour
    Reply
  5. brianthesnail
    Play It Now!

    With the theme being vertical based maps this produced a vast array of entries… Some using the vertical theme more than others, however overall this was quite enjoyable and heres what I think about each mod.

    Gordon’s ups and Downs
    This was a interesting entry based around a central shaft with several ways of exiting or entering. This is one of the entries that in my opinion used vertical mapping better than the others. However it was frustrating at parts but hey. What’s a map if it’s easy.

    Secret of the Coast
    Although the mapping looked blocky in area’s this was extremely enjoyable. It wasn’t as vertical as it could of been. But it had some nice puzzles.. Nice map.

    Ventilation
    Quite good. Reminds me in parts of the end of Half-Life 2 were you can use the gravity gun to kill enemies. Mapping was good and stuck to the rules.

    Vertizontal
    This was a unique map and Phillip should release this on PP as a standalone map. I’mm suprised no one has done this before. That said it, would be annoying after a while. One of the best maps.

    Zipline
    This was the best in my opinion. Graphics were excellent and gameplay as well and although like Secret of the Coast it wasn’t as vertical as it could be, it ticked all the right boxes. Basically as long as the entry abides by the rules and does not enter a map that’s totally off the mark then there shouldn’t be a problem.

    So it’s Zipline for me with Vertizontal second (note: don’t play Vertizontal straight after your sunday dinner… ha ha)

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    2 Hours, 19 Minutes
    Reply
  6. Blue Lightning
    Play It Now!

    First, a big “way to go” to everyone who participated in this contest. I rather enjoyed them all. I will type a little about each one. But before I do, let me mention that I always turn off HDR cause I hate it and I also think it looks stupid. To me, Valve wasted resources developing it when they could of been developing Ep3, or real-time weather systems, or whatever else. In the mod “Ventilation” you will want to turn HDR off so your super-gravity gun is blue, instead of an irritating bright white (rant over).

    5th place: Vertizontal – Like Phillip says, a simple concept of being careful where you drop. The world is turned sideways, and gravity is always pulling you down. Certainly a creative concept. However, it could get frustrating and at times tedious, and it doesnt seem realistic. Defenatly something different though, I give the author an “I” for imagination.

    4th place: Gordons Up’s and Down’s – A good attempt, with a nice intro that allows the player to see everywhere they will have to go before starting them at the bottom. But once the play begins, the map is too mazey and tight. Every corner a player has a locked door, then has to find a vent to crawl through, or get to the shaft and climb a ladder. Next floor, rinse repeat. This cramped gameplay style is uninspiring. The worst of it is if you fall down the shaft, you have to go through it all over again.

    3rd place: Secret of the Coast – Another good entry with some delicious eye candy and a pleasing atmosphere. Where this mod fell short was the extreme puzzley nature of it. Being one that dosest like hard puzzles to figure out before advancing, I found myself too many times being stopped for a long amount of time which kills pacing. Some of the little cliffs I jumped across looked unrealistic, and in one place I fell to the beach and there was no way to get back up. My guess is if the author had more time, much of this would be corrected. Still, a nice map to play.

    2nd place: Zipline – This map is fun to play with good attention to detail. It is somewhat open and mapped very well. To move upward, the player has to put a little thought into it, but not so much where it qualifies for a “puzzle map” which I found refreshing. The gritty city enviroment was well done, and made sense. Great last battle as well. The zipline part (which is what the whole mod is named after) fell flat because it was so short. I would of liked to see a generous erray of ziplines since that is the name of the mod.

    1st place: Ventilation – I had a hard time deciding between Zipline and this one. I ultimatly had to pick Ventilation because of it’s creative use of large ventilation fans blowing the player up vent shafts. We have seen this before in Half Life 1 but only for a tiny amount of time, whereas this mod makes good use of the concept and uses the large open areas of the Citidel to do it! This mod delivered the content that it’s title was named for, whereas Zipline really didn’t. However, both mod’s are of exeptional quality.

    Ventilation not only had the crazy ventilation concept going for it, but lot’s of well mapped areas, great battles, and nice visuals, including a few wow moments. It also start’s the player with the super-gravity gun, always a good sign! The puzzles were not hard (although a few spots of “where to go next” were a little tricky), so pacing was kept flowing forward. All of these factors earned Ventilation the top spot.

    All of these maps worth getting, which is why I gave this entire collection a “Play it Now”. Grab it!

    Reply
    1. Blue Lightning

      Let me add that in Ventilation it did seem a bit of a stretch that a player could “bounce” off the fan blades, which allowed the player to float back upward with only minimal damage. A better way to go may of been to simply put a screen over the fan which still allows the air flow, but also serves as a platform to protect the player from the blades, and allow the player a jumping-off point at the same time. Just an observation.

      Reply
      1. sneakyspeckman

        That would make too much sense.

        Reply
        1. Blue Lightning

          LOL

          Reply
  7. TabMan
    Play It Now!

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs
    This one have a very basic feel to it. There is something with it that makes me feel annoyed but I cannot tell what it is. The map is well made, but no more than that, not great. It is a good map however and I enjoyed playing it alot.

    Secret of the Coast
    The same as the one before, Avarage map wich is fun to play. The two maps I mentions have nothing special to offer, but good Half Life maps whatsoever. Could be great if they offered something interesting.

    Ventilation
    Very great Idea but became a little linear towards the middle of the map. There is few maps out there wich uses the Super Gravity Gun wich is very nice. The concept was good and the mapping was basic. The “boss battle” wich that giant orb thingie was really clever, took me a good 10 minutes to figure out what to do.

    Vertizontal
    The most creative Idea I have seen in a HL2 map for this theme. Hardly any fighting at all and a bit of humour as well. I would like to give this map the first place but it felt like one big corridor. I know it would not be easy to expand it since you only go one way, down. Anyways, I enjoyed playing this map the most.

    Zipline
    I must give a personal Thanks to this author. The reason I didn’t enter this competition was because I was bored when mapping, I felt like there was nothing new to be made but the general feel of this map makes it feel like I’m playing something new. This is one of the best looking maps I’ve seen and made me feel like I’m in a city. The combat was well balanced, and it was fun to play throughout the entire map. -WINNER-

    And once again, Thank you, David Lundvall, for showing me the light.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    56 Minutes
    Reply
    1. WizardExt

      Thanks for this review. I took a break from my upcoming single player modification, Spherical Nightmares, to enter this competition. Seeing your (and others) review made it totally worth it. I am glad that you liked it and that it gave you some inspiration. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Kalakukko

    I made some grid images that fit with the other images I did for the Ville competitions.

    http://imgur.com/a/hywIg

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      Those a re great, thanks. I’ll eventually add them to the file.

      Reply
  9. MisterAddy

    Ooh some harsh criticisms on this one, but I guess it will help me improve. It is interesting how varied people’s issues are with things.

    When I spawned in the map and saw that the mountains in the skybox didn’t have scaled down textures or that the water did not align I knew I wasn’t going to like it.

    The skybox mountains are actually a Valve-made prop which is used quite a bit in Half-Life 2. Also I don’t understand the problem with the water apart from maybe it uses the 3D skybox to reduce lag.

    Where this mod fell short was the extreme puzzley nature of it.

    I didn’t think the map had that many puzzles, apart frpm the counter-weight one. Interesting though because some people complain when there aren’t enough puzzles.

    Weird map, didn’t even manage to complete it, not much to say

    I wonder what classifies as weird about it?

    My guess is if the author had more time, much of this would be corrected.

    This was the main issue I had, but of course the 10 day limit is the whole point of the competition!

    Thanks to everyone for your feedback, I am sad that I probably won’t be able to act on it in the next competition because of school work.

    Reply
    1. Dalannar

      The issue with the water was that the water in the actual map did not align with the one in the 3d skybox. Very early on you could spot a few places where the map water was way above the skybox one (or atleast it seemed to).

      I didn’t actually realize that the mountain was a prop but with such low resolution I can’t imagine it was used in Half Life the same way you did. I’m guessing it was used to very far away backgrounds or it was placed behind very tall buildings/other mountains to give a long view distance effect.

      I know it might sound harsh but I’m not trying bring you down, rather I’m pointing out what I didn’t like and what in my opinion should be improved on first. I don’t think lying and saying I loved it would help anyone. Not in mapping and not anywhere else in life.

      Reply
    2. Blue Lightning

      Well remember, whats just a few puzzles to some, is a lot to me, being a hater of puzzels! There were 4 by the time I got to the counter-weight one. And the counter-wieght one didnt look like it belonged there…kind like the lift at the begining, on the beach…meaning coherent realistic design was lacking. But the battles were good, the atmosphere was a delight, and overall it was a solid entry and a good one to play.

      Reply
  10. EmoLevelDesigner
    Play It Now!

    When I started it, the main menu background was white, so it was challenging to find the menu items. In the graphics options, the button “Adjust brightness levels” don’t work! How did they do this?

    Now I’m playing and reviewing the entries. The order in which I play is randomly chosen by random.org

    Zipline

    We start in the sewer canal which is nicely decorated with pipes and ambient sounds. Getting out of it is a nice and easy environmental puzzle. Then we’re in the good looking city backyard. Here’s another nice, easy and fun climbing.

    Later there’s some well balanced combat. And the map is called zipline because author actually implemented our usage of it!

    The map is constructed in a way that evading grenades is harder than usual.

    In the scene with the helicopter combat becomes harder: there are a lot of enemies who appear endlessly and two snipers. And when we finally win it just ends with fade to black.

    Overall, the map is worth playing for its very atmospheric level design.

    5/5

    Playtime: 25 minutes

    Secret of the coast

    We are going through nice landscape in the sunset. The design might seem simple at times, but overall the place looks good enough. There is some jumping, some searching for objects, some well balanced challenging combat, which later gets hard due to lack of healthkits and batteries. Zombies + gravity gun = fun. When I picked up the crossbow, I noticed that there’s no crosshair!

    Later there will be some pit with Combine installation and Half-Life style puzzle where warning sign is a hint. One time the door didn’t open and I couldn’t jump down due to invisible walls. Thankfully, eventually I found a way to advance: it’s possible to jump to the place with medkit and wall plates.

    It ends with hard boss battle: there are too many enemies. I had to take medkits through console.

    The ending is stunning.

    4.3/5

    Playtime: 25 minutes

    Vertizontal

    The idea behind this map makes it very unique and fun. Idea: make the world then turn it 90 degrees. So we need to go to the store, but we’re falling, so this is an environmental puzzle about finding the way which won’t hurt. I felt that the place where the cars start to fall requires luck to complete. Would be nice to have a 100% working solution.

    It’s also fun to go to the garage and try to ride a car.

    4.9/5

    Playtime: 10 minutes

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs

    The elevator took us topside, but then fell, so we have to climb the hard way, going through various places. There are some fights with Combine, some puzzles. A wow-moment is a big generator which we start by entering the found code. The map is good, but I didn’t find it memorable and it ends abruptly.

    4.5/5

    Playtime: 16 minutes

    Ventilation

    We are in some Combine building’s ventilations. We control fans with terminals and fly through the wind tunnels, using superchargers and Super Gravity Gun against the opposing soldiers. Eventually, I understood that I can’t simply turn on all fans to ascend. Then I started exploring and got to the generator room. Here the goal is to destroy the generator and use the shockwave to fly up. After that we see pleasing and unexpected ending scene. Looks like this scene is

    A background map, made by The_Blazer, is included in this release but not used.

    , because I also saw it by launching background01_pp_6x10.bsp map

    4.6/5

    Playtime: 26 minutes

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 42 Minutes
    Reply
  11. WizardExt
    Play It Now!

    First of all, thanks everyone for your comments. Much appreciated!
    Here is my review of the enties:

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs
    Interesting map. I liked the presentation. It was obvious what the goal was. I had some confusion in the beginning, jumping into the wrong room. I also had some issues with the keypad room, open-door triggered really late so I was looking for the code in wrong places. Combat felt awkward most of the time, very close up and out of nowhere. The ending was semi-nice, could have been a bit better.

    Secret of the Coast
    I liked this map. It had a sense of progression when I was finished. I had been travelling from the coast to the top of a mountain. The background visuals could have been better, but didn’t bother me that much. The actual game area looked great I think. The difficulty towards the end was way too hard (I died so many times!) and with some bad auto saves I started to manually save for each enemy I took down. I had some problem understanding that I should jump after the elevator. It wasn’t obvious to me. The hurt trigger below made it very confusing as well. The end combat was very cool, had great fun. I really liked the ending, nice stuff! 🙂

    Overall this map could use a bit of polish; details, background visuals, puzzle presentation, difficulty. Then it will shine!

    Ventilation
    Large visual design and simple and focused game design. I liked both how it looked and the idea. But most of the time I was confused what to do and where to go. And this confusion made me jump around looking for answers and things felt off. I got stuck in geometry, slipped of ledges and missed jumps. This kept going until I finally, by random, found my way to the final room. At this point my opinion started to change. I went from not liking this map, to loving it. The ending and the outro scene (if the canyon-lift scene was it) was awesome.

    Vertizontal
    Interesting take on the theme. It could have been executed and presented better. Funny with the whole get-milk thing. Reminded me of when I played Postal 2.

    I died a million times. I got really frustrated. I didn’t feel I died because I made the wrong choice, but because navigation felt off.

    This map would have been much better if it was less abstract and put in a realistic environment. Visuals could have been better.

    Final words..
    My favorites are Secret of the Coast and Ventilation. Both with interesting endings. I liked the progression/travel in Secret of the Coast, also the start and end point. But Ventilation takes 1st place for me, even though I had some real issues with it. But it had a great vertical environments and travel, and the later part of the map is pretty awesome.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 30 Minutes
    Reply
    1. Blue Lightning

      You forgot to review Zipline! 🙂

      Reply
      1. WizardExt

        Oh, you are right! Zipline is flawless, one of the best maps I have played, for any game. Nah, I can’t review my own entry, that would be super weird. 🙂

        But I did record the whole process, from me placing the first brush all the way to the end. I might make a timelapse video.

        Reply
        1. Blue Lightning

          Now that would be interesting.

          Dont know if you read my review, but I had a hard time deciding between Zipline and Ventilation. I really thought both deserved the top spot, but I had to choose one. It came down to how much the title of the game was included in the game itself. Really, Zipline was a hell of a good job.

          Reply
          1. WizardExt

            Yes, I read it. Thank you! 🙂

            Reply
  12. Duke

    Don’t know if it’s just me, but I can only access the first one, the other entries are “greyed” out…is it necessary to complete the first entry on the list before access to the next one is allowed ?

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      All the chapters should be open when you first start the mod.

      This issue seems to happen to some people. I think it relates to how much of the base game Steam thinks you have finished.

      Anyway, please go to the verticalville/cfg/config.cfg file and open it in a text editor (i.e. not Word or other word processors) and look for the line that starts sv_unlockedchapters and change it to sv_unlockedchapters “15”.

      That should solve your problem.

      Reply
      1. Duke

        ok, I’ll give that a go, cheers..

        Reply
    2. WizardExt

      My friend had similar issue, with some levels locked. They unlocked as he finished them. So something must have been set up wrong.

      Reply
  13. Filthy McNasty

    How does Secret of the Coast end? Everybody’s dead and I think you have to go back down the tunnel outside where the map began. Any hints how to open the door leading to the tunnel?

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      You need to go up. There’s an elevator in the corner on the slightly elevated section.

      Reply
  14. Fidchell

    How do I get past that crank part in Gordon’s Ups and Downs where the door goes back down when it barely rises up? I have no idea what to do.

    Reply
  15. dougjp
    Play It Now!

    I found Gordon’s Ups and Downs the most interesting AND enjoyable. Both those factors have to co-exist for me.

    Ventilation and Zipline rated about the same, ie; very highly. Ventilation was confusing at first but had both factors mentioned above along with great visuals. The lack of an ending, lying outside with no text and no auto escape back to the menu, was disappointing. Zipline also was great, and the final battle was perfectly balanced and thought out, while difficult. I did like the puzzles as well.

    I just didn’t warm up to Vertizontal at all, and while the creativity was noticed it wasn’t the overwhelming important thing for me. After a while of replaying from a save, the enjoyment vanished. Secret of the Coast had some nice puzzles and I don’t mind too much when the graphics (outside segments) aren’t fantastic in some places. What killed it for me was the over the top ‘swarming” final battle, and the design of the movement (or lack thereof) after the first drop of the elevator inside. Not at all intuitive where to go next, and caused me to quit the game until coming back here and reading all the comments for hints. So, like with Verizontal, the enjoyment vanished and was replaced by aggravation.

    Thanks to all the mappers for your work!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 30 Minutes
    Reply
  16. Hec
    Play It Now!

    Hi mates, I take a great little rest from my never ending reading life, and how great it feels to play HL maps again, even for a little bit!!! yeah its just great.

    Well I have to say, 6×10 Phillip’s villes event is getting really great payed off!!, this is another great ville that you definitely have to play now!, I feel the whole concept is great in HL, but here I have to say only 2 entries deserve the vertical tag, those are ventilation and vertizontal, they are both great entries, ventilation was the preatty great and well deserved winner, because the vertical upwards environment was just greatly done there, I love to be on that CMB huge ventilator structure, and the superb grav gun was just a perfect touch of nostalgia and a great feeling of a super kick ass weapon.

    As for vertizontal was a really clever entry, the concept was fun enough to twist your brain dimentional perceptions which is good, I loved to get out of the box as a concept for a little bit.

    Then Zipline, was just great, but I felt it more suitable for rooftop ville instead of this one, tough the part where u see the main avenue of the city was just beautifuly done, the combat against the heli and cmb troop at the end was just the great combat ending.

    Seceret of the Coast was the toughest of all entries in what combat respects, and the vertical gameplay was just too poor I never really felt I was playing too vertical at all, tough as I said maybe just the best part of it was the super hard ass ending combat battle at the end, BUT, I just hated the poor suply weaponery, I mean if i’m going to battle the HUNTERS at least suply me a magnum, even give me more ammo for the crosbow AT LEAST a bit for god sake!!!, here also I agree with the non pleasing ever Emmanuel, the guy who always argue with Phillip, that the batery puzzle was just stupid and non sense, that part just felt too way forced.

    Id say Gordon ups and Downs were the worse of all, not vertical at all, that ladder pit was just really poor to catch the concept of vertical, tough I think close combat was ok and nice to be entretaining enough.

    Finally i’d love to see what’s the next competition, because i’ll defintely play it.

    Oh by the way,, i’d ask the developer of ventilation: the part where the player sees the outside where the helicopter and the scaners fly arround is the very last part of the map, or it’s just an impasse waiting to trigger another secuence?????????? , I got confuse after I blew the core off, and I don’t know if I finished propperly……..

    And then I had the 2 last entries blocked on the main screen of the mod, I tried to do what Phillip said to solve the problem but it didn’t worked at all, so I had to charge vertizontal and zipline manually.

    Anyway really great competition so take ur time and enjoy it!!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    2 Hours, 35 Minutes
    Reply
    1. The_Blazer

      The canyon scene you see after blowing up the core in Ventilation is not part of the map. It is a background map I made, wich is included in the mod but not used.

      Because of some weird bug, the map loads right after finishing ventilation, but it is not part of it.

      Being a background map, you could possibly stare at it for 4 hours without anything interesting happening.

      Reply
      1. Hec

        OH , Thanks 4 explaining that, I tought I was getting expelled in the air because of the core explotion and then fell into a cannyon which semi-burried gordon’s body in rocks, haha 🙂 wierd relation, that may be serve as a link in order to continue to a larger mod….
        Aanyway thanks for answer the question!

        Reply
  17. vancanucksfan
    Play It Now!

    A very interesting and fun set of maps for the most part. I liked Ventilation the best, because the solution takes you a while to figure out, and I really like the combine reactor-core thingy. Gordon’s Ups and Downs was a good little puzzle map, while Zipline was interesting for the way you had to navigate to yoru destination. I liked the first part of Secret of the Coast, but it lost me when it got to the combine complex with invisible walls at one point. As for Vertizontal, it was a great concept and extremely difficult. However, it made me nauseous to play so unfortunately I can’t recommend it. Overall a lot of fun.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    2 Hours
    Reply
  18. George Campbell
    Play It Now!

    I feel this Ville was very successful. Each map was of medium to high quality aesthetics, with some parts very high quality. There was a nice variety of map, such as the funny, Vertizontal, which had some funky sideways gameplay. There was the beautifully designed map by Justin, Ventilation which had you floating around a combine complex of massive vents. And the interestingly designed Secret of the coast, which had some brutal combat.

    However, there were several downfalls, in particular, Vertizontal, which you literally fell down a street… jokes aside, this was the only thing you did, and although fun, it started to get monotonous, even with the little there was.

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs looked fairly good, however gameplay-wise there was very little vertical action, and it was mostly close quarters combat, mixed with the typical press a button puzzle. It was getting claustrophobic, and then I died, and found there were no auto-saves, and had to go through it all again; not fun.

    Secret of the Coast was promising, and I enjoyed the puzzles such as the ladder and the tyres… It had a lot of potential to look amazing, but I was kind of disappointed. Then there is the combat.. nice and hard.. but it is relentless. Seemingly getting more and more vicious, introducing a couple of hunters at the end, mixed with a swarm of combine soldiers and a splatter of manhacks. The mapper thoughtfully placed an array of healthkits and shotgun ammo on the platforms which hold you and the entire combine army above a pit of certain death. I assume now you were meant to run, but I decided to save and reload until they were all dead. This meant I had to beat my rule of no god mode until the game is finished.

    Ventilation. Personally, this was my favourite. The combine architecture was surprisingly authentic. I enjoyed the very well designed massive vents. Since mappers seem to rarely exploit the extremely fun super gravity gun, this guy made a good move. The combat, similar to Secret of the Coast in that there was lots of combine soldiers, was extremely fun. The over-powered weapon is still great fun to use. This map gives you the feeling of floating. The finally was powerful; an awesome looking puzzle with great effects, mixed with plenty of combat and a brilliant finish.

    Zipline, a good looking, solid map. You can tell the mapper put a lot of effort into architecture, although the lighting could have been improved as some areas were frustratingly dark (you had to keep the flash light on a lot). The combat was good. Nothing really makes the map stand out, even though the zipline was a nice addition, it was not particularly fun.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 45 Minutes
    Reply
  19. Blue Lightning

    I want to say Ive been reading the reviews and enjoying how well they are written. We got a bunch of intellegent people on this forum.

    Reply
  20. =EX-Mo=

    In general, quite unusual and interesting. Especially liked Vertizontal

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    50 Minutes
    Reply
  21. Ade
    Play It Later

    I can’t say how long it took me because I didn’t play it all in one day (or week, for that matter) but I guess 2 hours on Normal is fair to say.
    As always I beg people to test their entries with more than 1 person besides themselves, since you just end up creating frustrating maps that if they’re not finished, your work is half in vain..

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs
    I noticed the intro, the falling platform, was inspired by Baryonic Predicament. Had a nice way to ride a wheel up but such a blunt end. All in all it kind of reminded me of ElevatorVille. A small bug was that I got hurt by some lift door and those unbreakable crates! are the signature of that mapper I just don’t like 😀

    Secret of the Coast
    Some invisible walls, death after the first elevator down and a manhack stuck above gave me the impression a trigger was broken, though so far so good, so I played with the saves, tried and retried, read the comments, tried again. Til finally Phillip was online and kind enough to help me out but the final (was it?) battle was just too much, all smg and no health makes Ade a dull girl.

    Ventilation
    WOW! This is what I’ve been long expected, a new style of progression in the EP2 universe and I never thought someone could reinvent the wheel and take it to such a level, moreover in a combine architecture which I always love to stare at. For instance how did the author make the bland hl2 combine wall texture so lit up and colorful in the last area? The overall flying involved was pure pleasure for me. My only nitpick is actually by my own fault, I didn’t see the closer orbs in the same room so I went to grab em one by one from outside, needless to say that didn’t go well, and 2nd time round I died cus the warning sound wasn’t enough for me to get out of there. But again, wow! I guess I’m already a fan of the author from his previous entries. Nothing but quality from Justin Carlton.

    Vertizontal
    Died in the first minute, and no autosave! Now multiply by 10 and I’m done.. It’s very interesting approach, but needs a lot of tweaking, for my taste it’s just too hard. Some of the distances are just too big, they could’ve been shortened to do 5 damage instead of 50 and it would’ve been a lot less dying and a lot more fun.

    Zipline
    I guess I’m the only one that was reminded of Poke 646 while playing this which means I just loved the entry, but the ending was unsatisfactory. When something’s hard to get they say in the end you feel like you’ve earned it but this is just too unfair and even though I finished with 58 hp it just didn’t feel right. I mean who ever saw a chopper, 3 snipers and 20 combine at once? In my memory it will remain mostly for the city blocks climbing and not for the zipline, despite its “wheee!” feeling. Maybe it was too short? or should’ve been used more than once, or maybe it’s the fact that your view is turned 90 degrees to the right when you get off it (I’m sure it’s something trivial to be fixed), but it didn’t strike me as a wow moment, despite being a new mechanic.

    Pretty obvious what my favorite one is and it’s a shame I didn’t finish all entries, I hope they’re not forgotten but maybe released properly in the near future. GL!

    Reply

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  23. emartinezthree

    I have the same problem with this ville as a number of others. When I load it I get a white screen with music; if I cancel out to windows desktop I get the error message: Can’t find background image materials/console/startup_loading.vtf

    Only endville has worked for me; beginning, sniper, vertical, halloween, forest and crossbow all have this same error (slightly different for sniper).

    Reply
  24. Gangway!

    It’s so pity that today this “ville” is unplayable. Is any hope it can be fixed in future?

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      Try the download now, I have linked to an updated file.

      Reply
  25. Neon Minerva
    Play It Later

    I think a lot can be done with this theme.

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs
    It is good

    This was pretty fun apart from waiting for combine to bust down doors. The combat is pretty fun, and I like the progression. The puzzle with the wheel was pretty neat too. I think the author is getting better as time goes on. The ending was a bit poorly communicated though, I thought I was supposed to fight the hunter then it faded to black.

    Secret of the Coast
    It is great!

    The environment is really nice. The first part of the map is zombies and puzzles, and it’s pretty fun. The second part is a kinda citadel-esque area and it’s really well done, the fights are good and the atmosphere is too. The last fight of the map was really tough. I kinda screwed up the ending by throwing a grenade before it took control away, as I didn’t realise that I wasn’t supposed to fight. Great map though.

    Ventilation
    It is good

    It’s a citadel map with the super gravgun. The architecture is very interesting. The puzzles are interesting as well, it took me a while to figure out the second one. The combat is standard super gravgun combat, not very challenging but very fun. The last fight is pretty cool, and the ending is grand. I liked this one.

    Vertizontal
    It is okay

    Well, I enjoyed this, but it’s certainly not for everyone. It’s got no combat, you just have to find the right places to fall to not get killed. I found it interesting and fun. (After I played it I had to adjust back to regular HL2 though!)

    Zipline
    It is good

    This is a fun level. I always like rooftop environments. It was fun figuring out where to climb, and the combat was good too. I think the zipline itself could have been a bit more obviously placed, as it took me a while to find it. The boss fight is good, luckily the helicopter’s health was lowered from the usual and the snipers and constant combine made it a lot more interesting.

    Overall

    A pretty good pack. I enjoyed them all, and I recommend them. Next up, AlphabetVille!

    Reply
  26. Unq
    Play It Later

    Playing this before VerticalVille Two because it seemed the right thing to do. 🙂 Overall a solid result. I especially enjoyed Ventilation, Vertizontal, and Zipline. I think Ventilation gets the edge because Vertizontal was clever but a bit lacking in gameplay, and Zipline was pretty and cool but wasn’t vertical enough for this challenge.

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs

    A decent if claustrophobic map here. This one is mostly about exploration, with a bit of combat too. But since the map is almost all tight hallways and staircases, the combat really isn’t challenging at all. This map was enjoyable but didn’t really have the vertical feel that was the point of the challenge beyond the main elevator shaft.

    Secret of the Coast

    A varied outdoor map that I thought was pretty good until the final ascent and standoff while waiting for the elevator out of the Combine pit. The difficulty there was so far off compared to the rest of the map that it was incredibly frustrating – and I like challenging maps. This just felt unfair at the end, with the seemingly unending supply of Combine soldiers, a couple hunters, and those damn manhacks. It was just too much at once, especially since you aren’t all that well-armed in this map. I did love the lighting in this map, but I’m a sucker for the ‘golden hour’.

    Ventilation

    It’s not easy to pull off a fun and interesting map with the super gravity gun, but Ventilation is solid. Part puzzle, part combat, and very vertical. Mister Addy mentioned Jedi Knight above, and I have to say that’s about right – huge, open ventilation shafts where you have to use giant fans to propel you in the right direction. It took me a while to work out the fan switches in order to proceed, but the puzzle isn’t too bad. The final battle was hectic even with the super grav gun. Overall a great vertical map.

    Vertizontal

    A clever take on the vertical theme. This is the kind of map I really like to see in these Ville challenges – thinking outside the box, and taking a bit of a risk. In this map the results are good but not great. The sideways map is certainly mind-bending (I had the same reaction as William in the video above) but ultimately it’s controlled falling down the map. I would have liked to have seen some more variety in the areas you go through, but for the short time allotted for this competition I can’t complain. My main complaint is the final section down the street with all the falling cars – you have to do this section fast and if you fall behind you simply can’t make it. Overall a nice twist on the vertical theme. I also liked the addition of the buggy in your garage at the start, just in case you really wanted to get there fast. 🙂

    Zipline

    I agree with Ade, this map reminded me a bit of Poke646. I loved the tight city areas here, and I really liked how you had to traverse the various areas by climbing up everything in sight. There was a lot of vertical movement required, but I think the map lacked a central vertical area or building. I really liked the finale battle – it was challenging but unlike Secret of the Coast it felt fair. Overall this map was visually attractive and a lot of fun, but I think it might have better fit in RooftopVille instead.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 30 Minutes
    Reply
  27. Steve
    Play It Now!
    Gordon’s Ups And Downs
    It is great!

    First time I played this I wasn’t so sure iirc. But I’ve just played it again today and I loved it. It seems to follow the scene requirement really well and I enjoyed making my way back to Alex.

    I’m often wary of maps that have me all fingered trying to hop off a ladder and sidetrack to a vent! But this worked well with the vents having a little ledge. Good thinking. Also, it’s odd that the combine suddenly seem to know your there but, thinking about it, they are in the same little room…

    The ending was funny with the Hunter! But also a shame that the map does actually end. If I was to moan then it’s Alex who was facing the wrong way when talking to me…

    Secret Of The Coast
    It is okay

    The start looks lovely and I enjoyed the environment. A cabin with two zombies the battery for the first puzzle worked nicely but the ladder scene afterwards was an enigma and didn’t make obvious sense to me at first. Put that just slots into place… Dunno, it worked as an idea but somehow I didn’t like it?

    Clearing the house was more fun that I should have been as I killed a couple of zombies from outside with paint pots etc/etc. Before flipping the switch to deactivate the forcefield I blocked the stairway with a table and more. I hit the switch and these items had gone with combine there. Lol not too realistic but it didn’t matter.

    Loved what’s around the corner and I thought the soldiers where staged nicely so surrounded but not overkill. Hopping through the next scenes is superb but lowering the bridge revealed two of the dumbest soldiers – who stood there itching to be shot. So I did… But even so, these scenes have all been superb.

    What I did not enjoy was everything that followed. It’s umm okay but not only did it feel out of place compared to the previous scenes but I also thought the ending parts were too hard overall. Spoilt what was a great map.

    Ventilation
    It is bad

    I thought this had some interesting and innovative ideas and the blue Gravgun was nice. I thought tearing the consoles off the wall was funny but it kinda went downhill for me after this.

    I can see why others would love this map but I didn’t click with it I’m sorry to say. I found anti-grav hopping was laborious and the tunnel was impossibly frustrating.

    Not one for me.

    Vertizontal
    It is okay

    Oh boy!

    Where do I begin lol. Once again, this isn’t something I would like to play nor expect to play in HL2. However, it’s incredibly entertaining and impossible to play, at least for me.

    Made my head hurt and my eyes ache!
    Great! But I doubt I’ll ever want to play it again! 😉

    Zipline
    It is WOW!

    Although I found hopping onto the forklift truck a bit annoying, I gotta say that this is a fantastic map. Absolutely fantastic.

    The journey through is always interesting and has (for me) made up for the previous maps. The end battle is quite rough but I learned it best to hide behind the building but it is a hard battle. Perhaps too hard? Umm I dunno…

    Worth downloading just to play this. A superb map.

    Reply
  28. Roy
    Play It Now!

    II wasn’t sure what to expect and I was afraid it would be all platforming.

    Gordon’s Ups and Downs by Tony DeBlasio
    It is good

    Platforming. The ladder jumping was not my favorite, but some of the other puzzles were good.
    Has some interesting combat.
    30 minutes.

    Secret of the Coast by Alastair Toft
    It is good

    Lots of hard platforming and good, hard combat. At the end I just didn’t feel the fun factor.
    20 minutes.

    Ventilation by Justin Carlton AKA Sneakyspeckman
    It is great!

    This one was more fun. At first the fan puzzles got to me. I was just trying too hard. The combat was good.
    It was hard to survive. You just have to remember you can pull stuff off the walls and floor.
    30 minutes

    Vertizontal by David Newel AKA DeadCamper
    It is great!

    A really weird one. It just have been really hard to get your head around to map out this one.
    Reminds of a kid’s game we played as a child, except we were on the ceiling.
    15 minutes. Mainly from dying.

    Zipline by David Lundvall AKA WizardExt
    It is WOW!

    This one was the most fun for me. Minor platforming, great combat and minor puzzles. I liked the layout.
    I must admit, snippers are getting harder and harder for me to deal with.
    20 minutes. Steve is right, play this one!

    Summary

    Three of the maps were really good.
    Ventilation by Justin Carlton AKA Sneakyspeckman
    Vertizontal by David Newel AKA DeadCamper
    Zipline by David Lundvall AKA WizardExt

    You can tell every entry had a lot of hard work put into it. If I have to pick my favorite it would be Zipline.

    This was a very good map pack.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 55 Minutes
    Reply
  29. Daken50
    Play It Now!

    Gordon up and down, Secret Coast and Zipline all look and play great. The others I don’t care for.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    40 Minutes
    Reply

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