Best looking usermade Source engine map?

    Hi, i just replayed HL2 saga, which reignitied my old passion (yeah i was huge source fan in mid-2000s, though actually i appreciate all engines for what they do, ha-ha) and one thought came to my mind. I want to look at examples of absolutely maximum. I, kind of, came here to ask you all. What would you recommend and showcase as examples of most beautiful, impressive, eye-candy, gorgeous maps, that community ever made for Source-based games? For now, my question is only about usermade map and perhaps not about commercial games, so don't mention 2012's Dear Esther here :) (however, i'm glad to see levels that you consider as good looking as DE's or even more, to your opinion).

    It can be a map seperately available, or level / part of level from campaign. So both single and multi/coop counts. Well, looking forward your memory and experience!

    p.s.

    As bonus, examples on GoldSrc would be cool to know, too - though i'm not sure if anything surpassed Paranoia and Cry of Fear there.

    It would be hard to label the "best looking" map, because there are many themes that are done to a professional standard. However, I guess I can show you some of my favorite maps by theme: Breach, Grind, Station (wm), Pitstop. There are more, but these things are so subjective, I'm not going to make an exhaustive list. I think we can all agree that Valve's official Dust II and Nuke remakes were quite stunning as well.

    Ah yeah, i don't ask to pinpoint someone's #1, just wanted to see gorgeous custom maps (which might be pushing limits of engine, of course) :) on steam screenshots of valve multiplayer games when you sort by most number of likes you see some memes or whatever (unlike other games where it's usually panoramas and almost photomode like shots), so i think i gonna ask those who know.

    Honestly i kinda surprised i cant get many answers - not from gamers (on source-related reddits), not from mapmakers (here). Or is it karma? As i'm so angry at dear esther 2012 being removed so i decided to find source maps/mods that will be replacement as "wow, such beauty" instead :D

    Quote from IwazaruK7

    3 hours ago, IwazaruK7 said: Honestly i kinda surprised i cant get many answers

    To be fair, Source engine maps haven't really been known for their breath taking visuals. When I think of a Source map, what springs to mind are the countless rubbishy looking CSS maps from Gamebanana. Of course there are exceptions to this, CSGO and Insurgency have had a bunch of gorgeous looking maps, but personally I can't think of anything from the older games.

    Well, perhaps. I'm kind of "oldgamer" so i can find beauty even in 1990s 3D, and i also love cases when people push limits of older engines or hardware, so perhaps i'm spoiled by my mindset. Also, might be, for some Source-based games maps are more or less on same level, so it would be hard to say that this or that Day of Defeat Source map looks better than others etc. etc.

    Pretty sure, though, i can namedrop some subjectively "wow, for real?" examples for quake 1 or quake 3 if i were asked a similar question about them.

    I can list a few in case you don't know them, it's going to be nice to discover them :)

    It's a bit random, but i'd start with the oldest, a CS:S map named de_wanda was one of the first map that made me realize how far community created content could go. With today's standard it's maybe not as impressive (+ it's an old version of Source) but in 2006-2007 it was stunning, with lots of custom assets (it was rare back then).

    For CSGO, in the beginnings of mapping, cs_museum was definitely a map that changed everything. Gwalior came later and was incredible too.

    In 2013 we also had Ruins, Siege, Agency and Reef. All these maps were incredible, obviously all from Mapcore guys.

    Later on, we got Import, Marquis and Crown. A guy named Yanzl came in and made Castle, Resort, Zoo and Thrill.

    Recently Anubis and Chlorine blew my mind.


    I'm missing a lot of great maps, feel free to fill the gaps guys !

    I think the problem is, the question is too subjective and too far reaching. As you say, it's easy to flag up some fantastic looking Quake 1 maps in a heartbeat, but "source engine" covers a large range of games going back 16 years. There's also the fact that a lot of source powered games are set in the real world so they're critiqued for different aesthetic values than something like Quake where the mapper can just go wild with their imagination.

    I still think fmpone's reskin of de_season is one of the nicest source maps visually. Technically speaking it might not hold up to something newer like Anubis, but the visual composition is a lot more pleasing to me.

    I would second Interference's mention of de_grind, which uses its colour palette really well. Something about the art direction really recaptures the cs1.6 aesthetic to me, whilst also managing to be technically "up to date".

    Definitely CSGO's maps are the best looking as it's the only Source stuff really been worked on. I haven't played it in the last year so I'll leave it to the others for that... I wanted to mention a remake from a few years back, I think was made by @JeanPaul but can't find it. I only remember was a cs_ map with sewers, yellow water, and that I saved it in my reference folder, but that's on my bkp disk atm.

    If you want examples of amazing vistas in a SP context, look no further than Mission Improbable, I think the opening shots on the lighthouse, and later when you approach it, are really up there, by Mapcore user @insta. Then @marnamai really squeezed out all the juice with Downfall.

    Thank you all for suggestions and opinions, appreciated.

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    Quote I think the problem is, the question is too subjective and too far reaching.

    Perhaps i got too used to similar threads about "best looking ps1 game? dreamcast? wii?" etc. kind of topics that are often on gaming forums/networks.

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    Quote set in the real world so they're critiqued for different aesthetic values than something like Quake where the mapper can just go wild with their imagination.

    Fair point. One of reasons why i liked Zeno Clash was colourful and weird world.

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    Quote Definitely CSGO's maps

    And i must admit i've yet to explore them - i lost track of source-related maplife some years after Portal 2 days and didn't pay enough attention to CS:GO.

    -

    Regarding subjectivety. I recently found this nice-looking Gmod map

    https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi…s/?id=740691120

    But after closer inspection, it's maybe more or less on 2004's level as it might technically not compete with some hl2ep2/l4d2/csgo era maps. Still, artistically nice map.

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