[beta] A Brief Detour - HL2:EP2 SP Map

[UncleSam]

A Brief Detour

Download here!

A short single player map for Half-Life 2: Episode 2, where Gordon is separated from his rebel teammates and has to fight his way through a Combine controlled apartment complex.

I figured I should get some feedback before I actually release it, since this is my first attempt at a complete single player level. So lay on the crits!

[Mess]

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Shadow_control

[YokaI]

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Shadow_control

Other than that, it's certainly a good start. However, I don't feel the buildings are varied enough in height to get a realistic "city" feel, and the lighting could probably use a bit of a lightmap bump in some areas which call for more crisp shadows. Some clever use of entity effects could also save the map from being a bit boring visually, like particle effects and such.

[Unstoppable Florence]

Really good start!

Too many of the corridors are too bare. The atrium that the hunter attacks you in is a good example of 'why the hell is this here?' The room had no clear purpose for its existence, and just felt contrived. More props in the outdoor areas (namely the courtyard). Also, the headcrab encounter at the start... it was far too easy: I stood by the gate and hit them as they rounded the corner. You could fix this by having them spread out slightly using scripted sequences (so they come at the gate from different angles), or maybe (if you feel really ambitious) script them to jump over the fence.

Besides that, this was an enjoyable chunk of gameplay, and you have shown a good amount of promise!

[Duke Nukem]

i enjoyed playing it. some cool enemy-intros, like the door crushing zombie or rapelling combines were cool. the upper half of the city(outdoor city) should vary a little more, but its ok as it is now, more varied buildins like yokai said would do the trick. the weapon-placement appealed to me much because you didnt had full ammo and it was a logic combination depending on the following situation everytime(shotgun = zombie B00M!, SMG = tactical, ar2 = harder enemies ect.). it was a nice and enjoyable map!

[UncleSam]

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Shadow_control

I tried adding one, with the same Pitch Yaw Roll as the light_environment, and it looks alright outside, but looks terrible inside. Am I supposed to use the info_no_dynamic_shadow on all the interior surfaces? Or is there a better way?

I don't feel the buildings are varied enough in height to get a realistic "city" feel, and the lighting could probably use a bit of a lightmap bump in some areas which call for more crisp shadows. Some clever use of entity effects could also save the map from being a bit boring visually, like particle effects and such.

I was afraid they were a little uniform, and I tried to break that up a little with the skybox. But I'll take a harder look and see if I can add some more height variations. Any particular areas that would be good for a lightmap bump? And I have some smokestacks, so I could probably add some smoke.

Too many of the corridors are too bare. The atrium that the hunter attacks you in is a good example of 'why the hell is this here?' The room had no clear purpose for its existence, and just felt contrived. More props in the outdoor areas (namely the courtyard). Also, the headcrab encounter at the start... it was far too easy: I stood by the gate and hit them as they rounded the corner. You could fix this by having them spread out slightly using scripted sequences (so they come at the gate from different angles), or maybe (if you feel really ambitious) script them to jump over the fence.

I'll have to take another pass through and add in some more props and decals. I was afraid of too much junk getting in the player's way, but they do look pretty bare. I was going for more of a lobby feel with the atrium, but I guess that doesn't make much sense with the kind of industrial exterior, so I'm thinking of making it more of a warehouse/storage space, adding in some shelves and (sigh) crates. For the headcrabs, I tried adding another hole in the fence, and that seemed to mix it up a little.

Thank you very much for the comments and critique, keep them coming. I'm going to try and implement some of the suggestions tonight.

Also, thanks to Gradius for explaining the exploding Combine doors, I used it twice in this map and I'm pretty happy with it!

[jgoodroad]

I thought it was stunning, almost perfect. so good I played it twice, the only problem I had was the combat,

the first bit needed better cover and less combine, or a better weapon, I dislike realoading the shotty while they charge me and the pistol didn't have enough ammo, the headcrabs were ok if you circled around the cannister, and the rapplers were cool, but the 6 combine coming out of the same place kind of ruined it for me. but luckily I had the smg, made it more fun. and finally the last "boss" fight felt a bit constricted, and the purpose of the building I was in made no sense to me, (subway? I don't know.)

and that is it, I really enjoyed the oddness of the map, felt good (oddness as in the one apartment with a un repeatative layout and strange basement.)

[UncleSam]

I've uploaded a new version of the beta, at the same link, here.

Fixes:
-Added a shadow_control.
-Added another entrance to the first fence to make the headcrabs less predictable.
-Fixed the sprites on the Combine lights.
-I added a few sounds to the beginning, to try and give a little more of a setup.
-Slowed down the Combine response to the door a bit, added some more sounds.
-Added more props and details to the courtyard and the last room.
-Added another floor to one of the building to try and break up the skyline.

[jgoodroad]

well the detail to the last room was great, I thought it would make the last fight easier, but when the hunter plowed through a shelf and then proceeded to "beat me" with the shelf I thought differently, but I found a few more things wrong. last room's ramp should be replaced w/ stairs, still a bit confused about it's purpose. the rebel part needs more buildings in the background. and the door bit can be "awsomefied" if the player pllaces boxes in front of the doors before they explode, leading to little/no challenge... I still think you should get the smg before that fight, or give more ammo to the pistol.

[stoopdapoop]

First playthrough. Watching playtests is super valuable. You can see if I was playing the level the way it was intended

and left some annotations for you.

[nub]

Haha Stoop, I loved watching you play through the level. Comical. When I saw the "I'm the best" note, I thought of Toad from Mario Kart 64.

[UncleSam]

More changes and a new version, again!

Changes:
-Fixed a few props that weren't showing up.
-Added a headcrab canister to the basement to explain the zombies, plus the necessary hole in the roof.
-Added an smg1 just after the shield wall, so you have it for the first Combine encounter.
-First door explosion causes damage, fixing being able to throw crates in the way.
-Changed ramp to stairs.

Download

Thanks for the extra feedback guys, hopefully I can get this thing polished up. Stoop especially, that run through was very helpful, thank you. I think it's playing out about how I want, everything except the headcrab canister. Poor little crabs didn't have a chance!

[Major Banter]

When I was watching stoops playtest I noticed something.

The rapelling combine - the player doesn't get a good chance to react because he isn't hinted at where they come from. So they seem to simply appear. Trigger them earlier, and either attract the players view or place them in plain sight, then rappel down a second lot when they're dealing with the first.

[jgoodroad]

... you should put some planks over the doors in the first area, so you can't go in and camp the canister. but headcrabs can still crawl under, since it will take time to break the boards.

[UncleSam]

Alright, we'll give this another go.

Download!

Changes:
-Mixed up the rappelling combine so they should be harder to miss.
-Added barriers to the doors in the first gate. (Thanks jgoodroad!)

I think I might release it after this, unless anyone finds anything else major. Thanks again, everyone has been really helpful.