4 Comments

1. PlanetPhillip

   4th September 2016 at 12:22 pm

   

   My initial thoughts are that this release lacked design detail, lighting polish and gameplay planning. There are some large open areas that look to bland and there’s not really enough gameplay.

   At certain points the player gets to see the enemy too early and everything just feels too planned and laid out. Enemies waiting for you, weapons placed perfect etc are examples of that.

   There’s a nice section of barnacles and fast flowing water that could have been really fun, but felt that it was wasted.

   The final battle was too easy, which means that if I think it was too easy, then it really must have been!

   All in all, I feel that as it stands it’s okay but perhaps with some changes could be a quite interesting release.

   Installed:
   Using Gauge

   Difficulty Played At:
   Medium

   Playtime:
   22 Minutes

   Reply
2. DolmoTheDouglas

   4th September 2016 at 4:45 pm

   

   To start, I can clearly see and understand what level of mapping it is and I will try to be as clear as possible with my review so i can provide helpful feedback. As usual, I have posted a video on my channel with my thoughts in real time so you may want to look at that.

   To start with, having writing at the start of the mod seemed slightly pointless and I know from experience this never works. The player will forget in seconds what the writing said and will progress through the map as they would normally with no second thought. My advice would be either taking the “Story/objective” out completely or clearly refer back to the objective and give it more context.

   In terms of aesthetics, the map could be more detailed and less boxy. This can only come with practice. You may want to look carefully at HL2 and the episodes and study how the maps are not overly detailed but they are detailed enough to make it believable.

   There were good game play elements for instance breaking the lock on the door and swimming and what not but there were not enough of these small game play elements that gave the player something to do. In terms of the bigger elements, nothing was challenging. Giving the player a challenge and something to think about is really important. One situation I did like was the combine fighting the zombie. Seeing their attention diverted and allowing the player to “move in” was well done. The map needed better thought out situations like this. In the room with the metal container on the two ropes, there was a valve wheel that the player turned. If you show the player clearly what they are achieving, then it will make more sense.

   When doing combat, the player should have a choice of how to tackle the fight. Combine should not be able to run straight up to you. This was done well in the container room although there were so many places to check in that room. The last room should probably be rethought out. Having an area is difficult to pull off. Yes, you need lot of space for the hunters but I would propose only 2 (maybe even 1) hunters in there and nothing else. Have a bit leading up were you have to take on a few combine soldiers like the white ones or something and then lead the player into the “Hunter” room. It was good that there were tools the play with like exploding battles and stuff like that always helps the battle.

   I hope all of this helps the mapper and I wish him the best of luck for future creations.

   Installed:
   Using Gauge

   Difficulty Played At:
   Medium

   Playtime:
   15 Minutes

   Reply
3. Strontvlieg

   23rd September 2016 at 9:19 pm

   

   I don’t know why I tend to download ‘Maybe-maps’. Perhaps its because I’m an beginner in mapping myself and I’m kinda curious to see how other beginners take on the challenging task of making a believable environment in Source.

   This wasn’t a terrible map at all, especially in the case if this is really a first map. There were certainly drawbacks, like no autosaves, lack of detail, bland areas and rough lighting. I found the lack of autosaves the most prominent flaw as I plunged to my death roughly halfway and had to start all over again. Distribution of enemies and health/battery packs was well-balanced in my opinion. The fact that combat wasn’t always horizontal was also a plus for me.

   Installed:
   Manually

   Difficulty Played At:
   Medium

   Playtime:
   15 Minutes

   Reply
4. Steve

   22nd January 2017 at 1:15 pm

   

   I’ve always had a soft spot for an old skool style mod and this did it for me. It was fun to play and watching the combine battle was something I enjoyed. I’m weird like that, but it tells the story of other things going on in this world… The lighting needed to be better and the lack of details throughout was disappointing.

   Early scenes where very bland and lacking much action. The later scenes in those huge and wide rooms were great – perhaps the crossbow and lots of ammo for it would have been good here? Just like later on… So, weapon wise, I didn’t like how this was done – even though it was tons of fun!!

   Overall, this is old styled and I loved it. I genuinely did! I hope the author tinkers with this and releases an update.

   Installed:
   Manually

   Difficulty Played At:
   Medium

   Playtime:
   30 Minutes

   Reply

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