Update: Added a section for Station 51, dropped some older projects off, rewrote some descriptions.
I want to go back and add overview maps for all the projects, just have a hard time not making them look terrible. Is there an easier way to make simple, clean, maps than making shapes in Photoshop?
I AM MILDLY EXCITED FOR THIS.
The new Doomsday map/mode is pretty badass, a much faster paced capture the flag. It's interesting: you want to be a fast class to get the flag first, but then you have to be tough enough to take hits while you're standing on the platform waiting for it to go up. It keeps the scout from being the only optimum choice. And the delay at the opening means you don't necessarily have to sprint and be first at the flag, there's usually a duel in the flag zone, you can choose to avoid the flag area all together and ambush the other team if they grab the flag. It's worth jumping in just to check that mode out, I think.
It's just a weird concept to me that graphic quality would keep people from playing older games. I can understand obtuse controls: I've never really gotten into Ultima Underworld, but that's because the controls are just primordial. Same goes for System Shock 1. But I played System Shock 2 for the first time recently, without a nostalgia filter (and without using any high res textures/graphics updates), and it still scared the shit out of me, and is one of the most immersive games I've played. If the game is good enough, your brain kind of takes over and fills in the gaps in the graphics. For me, at least.
I mean, can those of you that can't play/replay Half-Life, can you also not play Wolfenstein 3D and Doom because of the graphics? Or No One Lives Forever or Deus Ex, FPS games that fell in that same era? I'm not judging, just curious.
":3cxxtlak]It feels good indeed, it's one of the best games ever that you'll remember forever. But it didn't age very well dude, It looks pretty flat. (Talking looks here, not gameplay. Since gameplay wise, HL1 has more than most of the shooters nowadays, unfortunatly :neutral: )Granted tho, we're all biased cos we all love Half Life 1, and the nostalgia clouds our judgement a little.
You're right, it's technically inferior, no question. I just mean aesthetically, it's still pleasing to the eye. And maybe it is just rose colored glasses, and memories of my first playthroughs years ago are overriding logic. There's a sort of charm to the low fidelity of the assets. Your brain is sort of forced to fill in the blanks - models and textures are more abstract. Kind of like MineCraft - it's all blocks, but it can still be very visually appealing. Maybe I'm just crazy, that's a distinct possibility. 
You guys really think Half-Life 1 looks atrocious? I love the look of it still. It's lo-fi, for sure, but it's absolutely still playable. And that's not just nostalgia, I've been replaying Opposing Force recently. And not directly related, but I love the player movement from the original Half-Life. It's more that greased coasters movement from Quake II.
Holy shit, that had me in tears. Just, Jesus Christ.
Ha, nice, they even have the G-Man in that last shot.
Patch incoming, June 4th-5th all platforms. M26 fix, suppression effect reduction, weapon tweaks. And color blind support!
Quote from holiestcowsThis is the finished image I linked earlier. This is the biggest and most expansive area Ive ever made in hammer so Im quite proud of how it turned out.img snip
Looking good, although the transition between the displacements and that brick/stone texture on the ground are a little harsh. Big spaces, woo!
Thanks for the feedback, Puddy!
Noted on the fog and exterior lighting. The lining up for slaughter and just being able to hide in a corner seem to be common complaints I've heard. It's valid, but I'm not sure what to do about it, beside design a space that doesn't have only one entrance, so the NPCs can flank the player. Even then, the NPCs have a disturbing tendency to run directly into the player's crosshairs. I guess this is solved through the rally/assault point system? Still not sure.
Good point on the ending as well, I do think I'll actually follow it up with something, so there might be a redux version combined with that second one, with some tweaks to the end.
One other big thing I've seen is that having the heli battle before the hunters was a mistake, since the heli battle gives players the rocket launcher, where they make short work of the hunters, makes for a lame battle. Really wish I'd thought of that earlier, as there doesn't seem to be an easy way to take those rockets from the player short of another battle in between that uses them up, or reordering the spaces, which is a tall order this late in the game.
Thanks again for playing! Cool to read feedback, good or bad.
And thanks for the advertising, Gambini! 
And here's a playthrough of it, if you aren't up to downloading and installing or don't have HL2:EP2 installed. Skip to the 2 minute mark for the playthrough.
Quote from FrieChampUgh no people on the radio commanding me what to do please. That has always been the easiest solution and has become such a cliché in FPS games.
I agree, but at least it's more logical than the dude muttering to himself. The best would be not having anyone yell at the player, and trusting them to figure out things for themselves, and keeping guidance a little more discrete.
Also not writing off the game, heavily scripted sequences like this might just be a small part of it.
Well duh, he forgot to yell at the player to press the 'Hold On' button.
Seconds earlier (1:48), he'd just hauled himself up a ledge, so it can't be his lack of upper body strength.
"I've gotta shoot the pipes" and "I can see the door, I'll smash through it." Really? I guess games aren't big on having the player think anymore? It's like having someone yelling in your ear how to play. "Shoot that guy! Yeah, right there! Take a right!" They don't even try to frame it in a way that would make sense, like someone guiding them from afar.
You're not playing the game, the game is telling you exactly what to do. What happened to environmental cues and subtlety? You need to teach the player the set rules for the game, sure. I guess it's mildly acceptable if this is the tutorial, but it's still crude and heavy handed.
You can have a linear game and still leave things for the player to figure out on their own. Have the player do, don't show. If the player can't do it, then show, but have a really good reason for the player not to be able to do it. This is stuff that Half-Life 2 was doing 11 years ago. How is this an improvement?
I haven't played the game yet, obviously, but this looks like a huge step back from Far Cry and even Far Cry 2.
A level for Half-Life 2: Episode 2, about 10-15 minutes of fast paced running and gunning.
If Dropbox doesn't work for you, it's also up on Snarkpit: http://snarkpit.net/index.php?s=maps&map=3475
Combine forces are closing in on your rooftop observation post, fight your way out and escape! I tried to expand on lessons learned from my other HL2: EP2 level and numerous other small projects since then. More open combat arenas, with multiple lanes and room to maneuver with plenty of cover. Visually, I tried for more complex/realistic brushwork, and a more cohesive theme.
Please do let me know your thoughts if you give it a try.
(Thanks to insta for the feedback, it was really helpful!)
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Cube Drop Surprise: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=72657635
Cubes drop, walls comes down. Can't explain that! Well, we can, but we won't.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=72071536
Ricochet your way to victory! Don't drown though, that's not victory.
Blue gel, orange gel, this puzzle has it all! Well, mainly just those two things, but you get the idea. Might involve running into walls, or portals, or both!
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Awesome insta, I got a whole page of notes from your demo playthrough, that was extremely helpful, thank you.
Darkness noted, I think I'll play with the environmental light a bit more, I had earlier complaints that it was too bright, I think I took it too far the other way. I'll give the NPCs a few more patrol paths, the rebels looked especially odd just standing in one place, waiting.The airboat jump is awkward, I'll move the boathouse back a bit so you can get more of an approach. I have soundscapes, but they are very subtle, I'll bump them up. I was wondering if the bit after the dropship was boring, I can add some excitement there. I planned the spot in between as kind of a down time, but it was way too long in your playthrough, I need to spice it up. It took you a bit longer to find the forcefield switch than I anticipated, it is a little out of the way. I was worried players would breeze through that area.
I didn't know barnacles would pick up grenades! It makes sense, but I'd never tried it. It's cool to see how much differently someone approaches the level, I have my own approach ingrained. A lot of the space where I was thinking "Yeah, you can maneuver around this way, and take this route, and flank," it seems like you either charged directly in and took your hits, or retreated so the troops filed in one by one. I'll probably add some more entrances and routes to the later bits, especially for the laundry, so the player can get flanked if they decide to pull back and wait like you did.
Thanks again, I'll keep at it.
Station 51
A level for Half-Life 2: Episode 2, about 10-15 minutes of fast paced running and gunning. I'd love to get some feedback before I release this for real. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Combine forces are closing in on your rooftop observation post. Fight your way out and escape! I tried to expand on lessons learned from my other HL2: EP2 level and numerous other small projects since then. More open combat arenas, with multiple lanes and room to maneuver with plenty of cover. Visually, I tried for more complex/realistic brushwork, and a more cohesive theme.
This has been on the backburner for quite a while, but I've recently been cranking on it to get it released. I'd consider this an alpha, since I've been the only person to playtest it so far. So please do let me know your thoughts if you give it a try.
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EDIT: I've updated the map with the feedback I've gotten and added a post in the Release sub forum. I've also updated this download link to the newest version.
Woo, got a second one together.
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http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=72071536
Not as happy with this one, don't feel like it has an 'Ah ha!' moment like the really good ones do. Tried to minimize the non-portal-able walls, just because.
That actually happened to me a couple of times, but they came back after a few hours. Not sure what's up, maybe they're having a little trouble scaling the workshop with the huge amount of new content being uploaded?
