HalloweenVilleFour

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

4th November 2017

Four nightmares, leading you to despair.

Four fears, leading you to doubt and hesitate.

Four evils, each one must be confronted before you can escape.

Will you survive?

Basic Details
  • Title: HalloweenVilleFour
  • Filename: hl2-ep2-sp-mc-halloweenvillefour-v1.7z
  • Size : 28.0 MB
  • Author: Mallikas 01, Sockman, PiotrekPolska, Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
  • Date Released: 04 November 2017
Theme Details

I want modders to make a map that uses atmosphere, lighting, sound and design to scare the player.

Carefully crafted ideas will be rewarded more than simple jump scares.

There MUST still be combat and/or puzzle solving. Simply making a scary scene is not acceptable for this challenge.

Entries

Listed as they are displayed in the mod itself:

Satanaphobia by Mallikas 01
Stalker by Sockman
The House by PiotrekPolska
Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon

Winners and Prize

The winner will be chosen by a public vote lasting 10 days from date of release.

What is your favourite HalloweenVilleFour entry?

  • Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon (11%, 5 Votes)
  • The House by PiotrekPolska (14%, 6 Votes)
  • Stalker by Sockman (5%, 2 Votes)
  • Satanaphobia by Mallikas 01 (70%, 31 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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Release Version

1.0 – Original release.
2.0 – This version. Fixed chapter titles. New menu music.

Credits

The RunThinkShootLive.Com introduction video was made by Jeff Muñoz AKA ThatoneJeff.

Custom Gridview Images

Four gridview icons are included in this file. To use the included grid view icon, select “Gridview” in Steam (top right corner).
Right click on “HalloweenVilleFour” and select “Set Custom Image”.
Then browse to the SourceMods folder and then to HalloweenVilleFour/steam-gridview-images folder and select the image. Then click “Set Image” and that’s it.
Of course, you can create your own custom image if you prefer.

Download Options

Download to your HDD [28 MB]
You can still use it with Gauge once you have downloaded it.

Manual Installation Instructions

Copy the “HalloweenVilleFour” folder into your “SourceMods” folder.
Restart or start Steam.
HalloweenVilleFour should now be listed in your “Library” tab.

Specific Map Notes

Some authors have included a readme.txt file, which can be found in the readmes folder.

Stalker by Sockman: If you don’t have an option to set shadow detail to “high,” (in advanced video options,) copy and paste the following into your launch options (right click the mod in steam, select properties, click “Set Launch Options”):

-force_vendor_id 0x10DE -force_device_id 0x1180 -dxlevel 95

You can remove these options once you’re done playing the map.
This is to allow for dynamic shadows, it shouldn’t affect anything except resetting your settings to default.

To remove these options, go back to the launch options and remove the commands you put in. Just be aware that will reset your settings again.

General Mapping Challenge Rules

Maximum two maps per mapper per competition.
The map must be original and not have been released publicly before.
The map must run in system with only Ep2 installed
By entering the competition you grant PlanetPhillip.Com & RunThinkShootLive.Com the right to release the map as part of the Ville Mod.
Maps must not appear before the release and for one month after the release of the mod.
No assets from retail games other than HL2, HL2: Ep1 or HL2: Ep2 are allowed.
Other assets are allowed with written permission from their original authors, which MUST be included in the entry.
Phillip’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into about it.
The map MUST have a proper name.
The map MUST have a proper filename: MapName_hvf.bsp (ABC is replaced with the code for the mapping challenge)
All entries must be sent to: [email protected] no later than the deadline.

Sponsor

This challenge was not sponsored. If you are an individual or company and interested in sponsoring a challenge, please contact Phillip ([email protected]) to discuss the options.

Deadline

The deadline for submitting maps was:
Sunday 29th October 11.59pm CET.

CEST is Central European Summer Time. Phillip’s Time.
Make sure you check your local time conversion.

That was 2 full weekends.

Reviewing

If you decide to use the Per-Map Opinion Images, please either watch the video below or use the file below:

HalloweenVilleFourReviewTemplate.txt

Thank you.

Screenshots

WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
Each map has 5 screenshots.

1600 x 900

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Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!

9 recommendations, average score: 3 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.89 (what's that?)
Total Downloads
  • 1,997
    Overall
  • 0
    Today
  • 0
    Last 7 days
  • 14
    Last 30 days
  • 153
    365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 8 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 7 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 54 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 26 Mins by ArctixSnowPup
Longest: 2 Hours by Jaroch2
Total Time Played: 7 Hours, 11 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
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Maybe?Maybe?Play It Now!Play It LaterMaybe?Think TwiceMaybe?Think TwiceThink Twice

16 Comments

  1. Maybe?

    Our usual scary mappack of Halloween, fourth edition.
    This time, a few entries, “quality over quantity”?

    Satanaphobia by Mallikas 01T
    It is great!

    The best one, and longest, of the pack, is the first one.
    It starts in a cool way as a “prank” which seems to have gone wrong, nice use of lights, and sounds… even if using headcrab zombies always sounds as “cheap thrills” now…

    The best parts are the two citizens going suddenly weird, nice little scenes with a nice reskinned enemy… and the climax was also interesting…

    overall, one of the best maps of the entire HalloweenVille franchise.

    Stalker by Sockman
    It is okay

    It’s mostly usual Combine fights with Stalkers being the “scary” parts, even if it’s not “that” scary, like HC zombies, now… :/
    The ending saves it all.

    The House by PiotrekPolska
    It is bad

    A little house with some zombies… that’s it.

    Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is okay

    Some nice little effects here and there, but basically the same as “The House”.

    ———————————————–

    Overall, only 1 map out of 4 which do the “job”. Maybe the HalloweenVilles should be extended, for the dev’s, for a longer period?? Or maybe dev’s aren’t that interested in scary map’s?

    Anways, as usual, each year my same advice, it should be best to forget about HC zombies and stalker, the overly used scary vanilla HL2 stuff, and focus more on scary citizens, sounds, some new effects, focusing on that…

    One of the best scary map’s ever made is “Torment” which you can find here on RTSL.

  2. Maybe?

    Was trying to get sp00ked, instead, stalker_shriek.mp4.

    Satanaphobia by Mallikas 01
    It is great!

    The best one in the contest, but not really that good. I enjoyed some of the creative parts like the 2 fast zombies helping eachother out. The idea of a little prank was good. And overall it was pretty fun.

    Stalker by Sockman
    It is okay

    StalkerVille,

    The House by PiotrekPolska
    It is okay

    “Locked..”

    Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is okay

    Would’ve been good if it was longer, and there were a little more flares. The ending was just awful. I wish it the screenoverlays would’ve been put to good use, not just putting some face over the screen at the end.

    Summary

    Wanted to get sp00ked, did not get sp00ked as much as I wanted to get sp00ked.

  3. Play It Now!

    Oh man, here it is. HalloweenVilleFour. I was very excited for this Ville, and while it certainly wasn’t the best of the HalloweenVIlles, I feel as though its better than what people are saying. Ultimately, your enjoyment of this Ville (and all other HalloweenVilles, for that matter) comes down to your own personal taste. If you enjoy atmospheric, haunting maps like I do, I would say “Play It Now!” If you are looking for good gameplay, difficult puzzles, and fun combat however, I would recommend you go play TeleportVille instead.

    Satanaphobia by Mallikas
    It is good

    This map had some cool moments, but ultimately failed to do anything particularly scary. The only thing that kept me on edge was the fact that this map had not one, not two, not three, not four, but five poison zombies. My god, this map should have been called Arachnophobia , not Satanaphobia . Regardless, the thing that weighed this map down the most for me was its liberal use of zombies as the main source of fear. Zombies have been done to death in half life 2 horror maps, and most people (including me) no longer find them scary (unless, as mentioned before, they are of the poison variety). Don;t get me wrong, this map had some good moments, like when the fast zombie cuts his friend in half so he can crawl through the vent, but overall, I feel inclined to give it a rating of “Its Good”

    Stalker by Sockman
    It is great!

    Okay, Okay Okay. I know most people won’t agree with me that this map is great, and, quite frankly, i’m not sure if I agree with myself, but holy crap. This map had some fantastic moments. It starts off quite bad, and I was ready to quit. However, once you get to the red-orange glowing room, and you see the stalkers shadows on the wall behind you, it will send chills down your spine. For the most part though, this map didn’t really fit the theme, and felt less like a horror map and more like a normal Ville map with horror elements. Oh yeah, and that ending was amazing. Good job Sockman, you most certaintly impressed me with this.

    The House by PiotrekPolska
    It is bad

    Ugh. This map represents everything I hate about typical half-life 2 horror maps. lots of very ineffective jump scares, the whole “door is locked, find a key” nonsense, zombies as the main antagonists, and many more. The only thing that keeps me from giving this map “Its Dire” is the room with the glowing television. It looked great, and really set a cool mood that was ultimately ruined by jumpscare zombies.

    Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon

    Oh hey! thats me! since i’m obviously not going to review my own map, I feel as though I will provide some insight into the creation of it in this section. Overall, I was most disappointed with the short length of my map. However, this was down to two reasons: 1) I was busy for 90% of the challenge runtime 2) I was not expecting this Ville to happen, so I used many of my HalloweenVille ideas in TeleportVille. In fact, TeleportVille is one of the major reasons this map didn’t turn out as well as I was hoping. Right around the time when HalloweenVille was announced, I was still in the process of scrambling to fix the crashes in my TeleportVille map, as well as patch up any missing textures (which, by the way, I did not entirely complete. Sorry about that.) Once HalloweenVilleFour was announced, I still felt obligated to enter as I was one of the people who were lobbying for it to happen. I decided to continue the story of my TeleportVille map, setting it in the same house at a different time, and tried to make it unnerving based on using contrary colors for lighting, a lack of understanding of what is happening, and praying on what people expect to happen in the map, due to many of the horror tropes and cliches. How well I succeeded in that is entirely up to you, but personally, I feel as though the map played out too quickly to really build any tension to the levels I was hoping to get it to.

    Summary

    So yeah, HalloweenVilleFour. Not really much else to say. I give this mod a Sp00k/Sp00k^2.

      1. I did, as I accidentally used the wrong photo for a map. If that is an issue, I can re-submit it :).

        1. No, it’s fine, it’s just that the headings were lost. I’ve tried to fix the bug but can’t.

          1. hmm, yeah I saw that, but then when I refreshed the page it showed up fine. Oh well.

  4. Play It Later

    It’s too bad there were only 4 entries; I would have liked to play more.

    Overall Satanaphobia was clearly the best entry with a clever “trick” intro, great use of background sounds, lots of detail, and a great customized enemy near the end.

    Stalker was interesting in that you were being protected by the Stalkers, but it was really short with a disappointing ending.

    The House was also quite short with nothing very scary about it.

    Trespassers was probably the 2nd best, with a good choice of music as you proceed. However again there wasn’t much scary about it.

    I noticed a couple of bugs in the mod. For me the map titles didn’t work right in the mod when you are selecting which map to play. Not a big deal but unusual. Also, the first time I killed the flying enemy in Satanaphobia the doors didn’t open. Reloading and replaying solved that problem.

  5. Maybe?
    Introduction

    As usually, i’m writing this introduction before playing, and i gotta say, i have some high hopes for this ville, i’m kinda dissapointed it only got 4 entries but they are enough for me. Let’s hope we get more next year.

    Satanaphobia by Mallikas 01
    It is okay

    This map wasn’t scary and it only got interesting by the two last rooms, the atmosphere was poor and the map had some bugs, when you need to jump over that stone barrier in a door, it appears it has an invisible wall, and the door that you’re suppose to go through after the boss fight doesn’t open, the mapper thinked it would be scary to just have rooms with red lights and some zombies, well, he was wrong, at least one thing i gotta give to him, the boss fight and ending were cool.

    Stalker by Sockman
    It is okay

    Just like Satanaphobia, it wasn’t scary, the fact that i had to max shadow detail made my hopes for this map a little bit higher, but it was only used in a single room, the sound effects used in that empty room with a pod were nice and scary, but those were the only good parts, a simple map with not that much and a single cheap jumpscare.

    The House by PiotrekPolska
    It is okay

    Just a meh map, not scary but an interesting atmosphere and a nice key mechanic, but i felt like this is map some famous gmod youtuber would play and fake scream and the two cheap jumpscares it had.

    Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is good

    Well Matt, you din’t let me down my man! Hands down the best entry on this ville, i was a little bit dissapoint with the tittle because i taught it would be a map were some strangers entered your house, but it was a very good map, the music only made it better and when it suddenly it stoped i turned my volume down, the only things that i din’t enjoy was that you a picture for the ending and a scare and the map was too short, but the way you used static to bring the player back to the menu was clever. Overall, the winner of this entry.

    Conclusion

    This ville was a disappointing one for me, i’ve waited all year for this day in expectation and it only had 3 mediocre maps and a nice one, the last map wouldn’t be that good if the other ones weren’t so unimpressive. Play this ville if you are going on a spree of horror villes, but if you aren’t, then you should think twice and say to yourself: ”Is it really worth my time?”

    1. In Trespassers, what do you mean with “Using static to get the player back into the menu”? I think I missed that one.

      1. In the end of the map, right after you get that jpeg on your screen, the map uses a tv static (or malfunction) effect then when the effect ends, you’re already on the main menu, in my opnion that was very clever and a little bit scary, because we are used to that sudden teleport back to the menu or a screen fading to black.

  6. I have to say this because I’m not okay with it:
    Trespasser resuses almost an entire section from the same author’s previous map for TeleportVille.
    That alone is already really cheap, but that house is a blatant rip-off of the mod Nightmare House as well!

  7. Think Twice
    Satanaphobia
    It is good

    So I was pranked at the start? But soon afterwards I began to wonder about this because something didn’t seem right, I had no weapons and the only way through seemed to be a half-blocked doorway. I couldn’t pass this because there was an invisible wall… so I noclipped my way by it. I like what I played from this moment onwards. It wasn’t scary but it had some neat ideas, if poorly executed and thus felt amateur throughout.

    I will add that although I “cheated” to get myself past the wall (and gave myself some guns at that point) the action would sometimes feel unbalanced – in favour of the scary monsters!

    Oh, I had to also noclip by the doorway just after the part when the exit light pops.

    Stalker
    It is okay

    Umm well the shadows on the open area/platform stage are superb. But the entire map isn’t too great and the paths through are too dark but do-able, I guess. Hated the ending, very depressing lol

    The House
    It is okay

    Short and not-so-sweet but it was a little creepy. I guess how the zombies and then the Spiderman (as I call him) emerged was freaky but the environment was a little to close imho. Overall, nice ideas but should have been better and in a greater playarea.

    Trespassers
    It is okay

    There’s no action but it was kinda creepy. I loved the footsteps sound effect! Nice ideas but doesn’t really lead to anything however. Still, gotta laugh at that creepy end face 😉

    I don’t normally like HL2 being changed into something else: I want HL2 to be HL2. But it was halloween and I can live with a temp change. But it was disappointing overall, sorry.
  8. Hec
    Maybe?

    Overall I think this was a very bland competition. Compared to some previous “Halloeenville” competitions, this had some pretty short and not very polished maps, in some, you can even see some “ERROR” missing textures messages.

    It is great!

    I guess “satanophobia” was a worthy winner, just because of the length and complexity of the map itself, also the final boss battle was cool and the ending just felt right too, but never give me scare shivers you know…

    It is good

    The best of the rest I guess it was “The House” but it was very short and just abuse of the classic “jumpscare” asset.

    It is good

    Stalker was an interesting entry but I just felt it like if it was the dream of a stalker, just like a living nightmare.

    It is dire!

    Trespassers was an interesting entry, but I had a dreadful ERROR missing texture message that just ruin the whole experience.

    So I think that’s it. I have always thought HL2 is really little scary on its own unless it is not modified as a Total Conversion. So yeah, considering this, my final words may be: “Half-Life Zombies are just not scary at all anymore!”

  9. Think Twice

    Overall I found these maps to be quite disappointing as they didn’t really make me feel anything.

    Satanaphobia
    It is okay

    I quite enjoyed the prank opening and the atmosphere was initially quite interesting, I then walked around expecting an elaborate puzzle to clear a doorway before finding out that it’s just broken and I had to noclip through it. The rest of the map was pretty average but I did enjoy a couple of sections specifically the Fast Zombies where one cuts another in half to chase the player and the final sequence with a demonic Antlion Guard.

    Stalker
    It is okay

    I didn’t really understand what was supposed to be going on in this map storywise, I did enjoy playing it though. It was quite short and not particularly challenging.

    The House
    It is okay

    This was a very short map, it required some problem solving but not too much, it put a couple of jump-scares in that I personally find to be quite a cheap form of horror and would have much preferred atmospheric horror.

    Trespassers
    It is bad

    This was easily the worst map, it had errors and missing textures but at least I didn’t have to noclip through anything this time. The map is short and seems as though it lost direction whilst being constructed. It ends just as I felt I was starting to get towards a beginning.

  10. Think Twice
    Satanaphobia by Mallikas 01
    It is good

    This is a great map. I got a bit lost though. Mainly when I didn’t realize I had to kill everything to continue.

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 6/10
    Strong usage of world space and a good atmosphere. It feels dated, especially for 2017 though. It could be better as nothing really has changed since the release of the SDK 2013.

    Visuals 5/10
    The visuals were a bit lacking and I easily could tell when the next jumpscare was going to happen. The red lights are a bit overused at this point.

    Gameplay: 5/10
    Good gameplay. It’s not the JPEG jumpscare, but it comes close to being one. Floating T-posing models and zombies. Typical horror. Good start thought. I liked this one.

    Final Score: 16/30 – 53%

    Final Comments: Took me about 16 minutes. Keep up the good work and I’d like to see this polished at some point.

    Stalker by Sockman
    It is dire!

    I was confused from start to end. I’m not sure if my flashlight was bugged, but I couldn’t see anything. Most of the scares were ruined by the darkness.

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 3/10
    Boring boxy map again. It looks like something I could do in a day if I had to compete in this comp.

    Visuals 0/10
    The visuals were a bit lacking and I easily could tell when the next jumpscare was going to happen. That is, if I could see where I was going.

    Gameplay: 0/10
    It’s lacking in every way. I don’t need to explain why as it’s just another walking simulator.

    Final Score: 3/30 – 10%

    Final Comments: Took me about 5 minutes. Don’t bother.

    The House by PiotrekPolska
    It is good

    This is a classic gmod horror map. We got zombies, blood, darkness, doors breaking on their own, and can’t forget about brush keys.

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 4/10
    Was a bit confused by the sudden concrete storage closet, but other than that. Pretty basic layout for a haunted house.

    Visuals 4/10
    The visuals were what I expected for a haunted house called “The House”. Lights suddenly turning off. Blood everywhere. Could use a lot more focused detail though.

    Gameplay: 4/10
    I died a bunch right after I got the key since it’s forced damage. Other than that it was pretty quick and kinda ok.

    Final Score: 12/30 – 40%

    Final Comments: Took me about 2.5 minutes. Maybe play this one?

    Trespassers by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is good

    This is a classic gmod horror map. We got zombies, blood, darkness, floors breaking on their own, and can’t forget about JPEG JUMPSCARES!

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 2/10
    It’s very boxy and the house makes no sense at all.

    Visuals 2/10
    The visuals were what I expected for a haunted house. Again, please don’t use JPEG jumpscares. They don’t work.

    Gameplay: 2/10
    I killed one zombie because I wanted to do something other than walk.

    Final Score: 6/30 – 20%

    Final Comments: Took me about 2 minutes. Maybe play this one?

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