[HL2DM] dm_arbogast

[Mazy]

Okay, so this map has been lying around for AGES, collecting plenty of dust, and when I recently started getting the suspicion that my computer might be dying, then I figured it was probably a good time to just release this thing. The compile in the zip is from the beginning of this year, but before there I had worked on it a lil bit in 2006, a lil bit in 2005 and I started it in 2004. I guess what I'm trying to say is that its okay if its not mind blowing, its amazing that it actually got anywhere

Anyway, apart from that there's not that much to say. Its a HL2DM map, old tired City 17 textures and props, but with a very open layout that leave plenty of opportunities for improvisation.

I'm not entirely sure if that weapon placement and general pickup placements are that balanced, but to be honest I cant be bothered to look at it anymore, plus my Hammer viewports are completely black when I open the level, so I think that its way of saying "Put a stop to this for fucks sake"

If anyone is interested in play testing it I would be thrilled, but this is more about just releasing it and bringing a bit of closure to this levels life

MAP DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mazy.net/maps/dm_arbogast/dm_arbogast.zip

Or if you're like me and can't be bothered to check it out ingame, here's some pics

[Freak]

gonna take a look at it tomorrow, seems to be a more or less open map.. i´ll see ingame

[Minos]

Finally

Looks pretty good man!

[dux]

De ja vu? Wasn't this posted a while ago in the finished work gallery? I'm pretty sure it was.

[-HP-]

De ja vu? Wasn't this posted a while ago in the finished work gallery? I'm pretty sure it was.

exactly what i thought, DEJA VU??

[Freak]

The overall look of the map is nice, good job!

Anyway, some things i noticed:

- the ladder leading out of the water part doesn´t work

- in the area on the lasst screenshot you´ve posted theres a stair down blocked with a grid, you can see the void down there

-too little physics in the outside areas

-some shop windows are leading to a wall

just little things, i guess the map is quite fun with about 5-8 players

[Punky]

Looks really good, I'm gonna try this map now

Edit: just played through your map, and must say that it is really good it has a lot of detail, and still is really big, it made me think of dm_overwatch directly, which is a compliment so good job, I noticed a few bugs though, thought that I should point them out;

-at the underground part, where the fence is and you can see down a stairway, you can look over the stair if you jump or get really close, and you'll get a HOM(hall-of-mirrors) in the distance, this is what I mean, it's not really clear on my screen, but if you check it out in-game you'll notice it.

-the debris laying on the street has bad clipping, which made me get to places that I'm not supposed to get to...

here I jumped over a wall, it was noclipped on the other side, so you won't see the wall, and when I got in there, I had to noclip out;

This are all the small bugs I could find, and it are just minor things, it doesn't make your map less nice I'm going to post a link to this map on the forums of a big HL2DM clan I'm in now (»Яąẅ«) and ask them to upload it on their servers

[aaron_da_killa]

Looks quite nice, I've been waiting for a Half-Life 2/ HL2DM map for me to check out.

I'll download it, run around in it and tell you what I think .

[Thrik]

Hah, yeah I've definitely seen this before too. Maybe it was in WIP though?

Looks good, although it is definitely hard to make a HL2DM stand out nowadays with the City17 textures — a bit like how my eyes can't help but gloss over yet another map using the Dustbowl style in TF2.

[aaron_da_killa]

Best thing about the map: Layout

Worst thing about the map: No ambient sound

This was actually a really good map. Sure it has that much used C17 theame but it was still very enjoyable.

The layout was 10/10. You had everything there, great height variation, flow, the lot. There are many opportunities for interesting gameplay situations given there is alot of players, as this is not a small map. The detail in the map was nicely balanced, every area felt like it received equal amounts of love and nothing really stood out to be under-detailed. It was consistent and consistency is really important in maps.

One thing that was disappointing was there was no ambient sound, I mean unless if I played the map incorrectly as I have before I apologize for this comment but the map was void of ambient sound, and like, great work :ssj: . You just lost alot of potential on this map and an experience that can be only gained with ambient sound. Everything was there, the environment was believable and everything, it was all there, my experience could have been 2.5 times more awesome if there was good sound design on the map. I can't stress enough to designers the importance of good ambient sound, its not something you should rush nor leave out of a map.

Other than that, I did manage to get to an area I wasn't supposed to like Punky said but that's easily fixable, just a clip, push effect or something to kill the player on the other side will do.

Didn't take much notice of the weapon placement because that takes me a while to judge. But yeah, great map, good layout, nicely balanced visuals, no ambient sound .

Good stuff Mazy .

[RA7]

nice work mazy, didnt know u still mapped

[Zacker]

Hey Mazy, about damn time that you got around to release this one! But impressive that you actually got it released considering it's development history;)

I was not too impressed with the looks of it back then, but looking at it now it actually holds up pretty well.

[Minos]

The flow in this map is brilliant... I love how all the areas are neatly connected to each other and always offer multiple ways out. I know you won't work on it anymore but HDR and color correction could improve the graphics a lot. I'm also not too sure about the optimization, did you use a water_lod (or whatever its called) for the water?

Anyway, congrats on releasing this after so much time