[HL2_Odyssey] Combine Outpost

[Julia]

COMBINE OUTPOST

• Game: Half-Life 2
• Map Name: HL2_Odyssey_M10_Combine_outpost
• Context: Part of the HL2_Odyssey project
• Time spent developing: Week 4 of 8 (at 50% work hours)
• Estimated playtime: 5 min

 

Description & Background
This map is part of the HL2 Project Odyssey, currently in development at The Game Assembly where I am one of 13 Level Designers.
At the start of my map, the player has recently finished an airboat section where they put some distance between themselves and the city. My level represents a small collection of houses nearby, where a group of combines have taken residence to defend against the zombies. The player fights their way through the houses, eventually arming themselves with a pulse rifle. With its help, the player takes out the fortified combines and escapes to the mountains.

Role in the campaign

This map is in the later parts of the game and is meant to signify the start of a change where the player starts to take control of their situation with the help of the Pulse Rifle. I want to portray this change with gameplay that goes from smaller, stealty encounters in the beginning, to facing the combine headquarter head on at the end. Since the player has a variety of items at their disposal, I also wanted to create different gameplay scenarios which would make use of most of the items in the player’s arsenal.

 

Alpha Build

Below is a link to where you can download the Alpha version of the level, with the first basic layout and gameplay in place.
I’m very grateful for all kinds of feedback and look forward to keep iterating on my map!

 

<Click here> to download!

 

Alpha Screenshots




 

[will2k]

Welcome to mapcore, hope you enjoy your stay.

I liked that you included a small underground detour to change the "flat" progression through the yard.

The zombies pit was a nice addition to heat things up from the standard combine encounters. It was also a nice excuse to use the shotgun up close and personal .

Your displacement floor is bugged in many places completely stopping my walk, forcing me to jump to keep moving. I noticed many open seams in the floor (example in your last pic); make sure you have them sewn properly and that you are not using power 4 displacement. If nothing works, you might have to recreate certain displacements from scratch to remedy this.

Certain combine soldiers positions need some work to make them more believable; many soldiers were just standing idle in the middle of the yard. I recommend you include some scripted sequences to make them look "natural and busy": ducking behind a barricade, patrolling the area, checking out a radio unit, etc...

Keep it up

[Julia]

@will2k Thank you so much! Enjoying mapcore a lot so far 

Thanks a lot for the great feedback! The displacement certainly has taken some getting used to and I'll keep working with it until everything runs smoothly.
I've done quite a lot of changes to both the gameplay and the layout since this alpha build based on the feedback I've received. Hopefully removing some of the flat feeling and making for some more interesting encounters as well. Will make an update with the new version of the map later today if you'd like to check it out! Would love to hear your thoughts on it 

[will2k]

On 12/13/2016 at 0:42 PM, Julia said:

Will make an update with the new version of the map later today if you'd like to check it out! Would love to hear your thoughts on it 

sounds good