HalloweenVilleTwo

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

1st November 2015

4 entries to make you sleep with the light night.

4 entries to make you shiver and shake with fear.

4 entries to have you looking over your shoulder.

4 entries to make you wish you were braver.

Play alone and in the dark – if you dare.

Version 1.2

Version 1.2 has been released. This includes an updated version of Nyctophobia, which makes the red and blue spots brighter.

Version 1.1

Due to some issues with the maps, version 1.1 has been released. The changes the order of the maps.

If you downloaded the original version, it is recommended you either download the latest version OR restart the mod after playing each map.

Basic Details
  • Title: HalloweenVilleTwo
  • Filename: hl2-ep2-sp-mc-halloweenvilletwo-v1.3.7z
  • Size : 46.10MB
  • Author: Corvatile, flying, Nev, Daniel Friend AKA Dannster
  • Date Released: 01 November 2015

Download Options

Download to your HDD [46.10MB]
You can still use it with MapTap once you have downloaded it.

Manual Installation Instructions
  • Copy the HalloweenVilleTwo folder into your …\Steam\SteamApps\sourcemods\ folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • HalloweenVilleTwo should now be listed in your Library tab.

If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.

Entries

In received order.

  • A Murder by Corvatile
  • Incident by flying
  • The Stretch by Nev
  • Nyctophobia by Daniel Friend AKA Dannster
Menu Music

Brane Scan by Kelly Bailey from Half-Life 2

Credits

The RunThinkShootLive.Com intro video was made by ĜL1TCĦ³

Sponsor

This challenge was sponsored by Nodecraft – High Performance Game Servers.
Receive 15% off your first month by clicking the link above.

Prizes

Various Steam and Origin games.

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 “HalloweenlVilleTwo” and select “Set Custom Image”. Then browse to the SourceMods folder and then to HalloweenVilleTwo/steam-gridview-icons 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.

Dates

The challenge started 7th October 2015 at 10am GMT and finished Monday 26th October 10pm GMT

General Rules
  • Maximum two maps per mapper per challenge.
  • 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 HalloweenVilleTwo 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_hvt.bsp
  • All entries must be sent to: [email protected] no later than the deadline.

Screenshots

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

1600 x 900

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Vote for your Favourite

Voting closes on 15th November 23:59pm (my time) and the entry with the highest votes is the winner.

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

14 recommendations, average score: 2.93 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.78 (what's that?)
Total Downloads
  • 2,394
    Overall
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 11 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 11 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 36 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 24 Mins by ArctixSnowPup
Longest: 0 Hours, 50 Mins by vancanucksfan
Total Time Played: 6 Hours, 37 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
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Play It LaterPlay It LaterPlay It LaterMaybe?Maybe?Think TwiceThink TwicePlay It LaterAvoid It!Maybe?Think TwiceMaybe?Maybe?Maybe?

42 Comments

  1. UnsettlingLife

    This is not Halloweenvile, it’s Verticalville.

    1. That is pretty spooky indeed

      1. Unsettlinglife

        Reckon PM had too many Shandy’s!!

    2. Fixed, sorry. I copied and pasted VVT post and edited what was different but obviously missed that.

  2. Sorry to the 30 or so people who downloaded VerticalVilleTwo instead.

  3. Hey Philip I noticed 2 problems with the mod one was that the sprint key didn’t work the other was that on my level little red spots are supposed to appear in some areas.
    If you can fix the problems then thanks :P.

    1. I wouldn’t know where to start with fixing them. Any suggestions?

      1. I have never actually made any sort of mod so I have no idea sorry Phillip. Maybe someone else has a clue about how to fix it.

        Then again the reason for my map being broken could be that the number of particles are limited or something. Seeing as the red spots are particle effects.

        Also the sprinting may just be something wrong with the code or it could be on my end :P.

        1. Ah. I suspect the problem with sprinting might be my fault. In A Murder, I used a client command to disable sprinting and I guess it stayed that way on the later maps. Oops.

          I think the only way to avoid that would be to play it last.

          1. Ah yes I just tested it by restarting the mod and it seems to have fixed both the problems.
            It seems that things used in earlier levels go over to the new ones so people may need to restart after each map.

  4. Just starting now. The first thing I noticed is that the difficulty is set to HARD after installation 🙂

  5. Play It Later
    A Murder
    It is great!

    This one is my favourite from the four. It had both great visuals and great gameplay. Atmospheric horror is the greatest, though disabling the sprint was a bit weird.

    Incident
    It is okay

    Not a lot to say about this one, couple of outright illegal enemy placements.

    The Stretch
    It is okay

    Relied a bit too much on zombies.

    Nyctophobia
    It is good

    Oh man, if this one would have had a couple more lights and had a bit nicer looking level design then this would have been the winner in my book. Gameplay mechanic took a bit to understand but mercifully the HP system was gracious. That twist of an ending!

  6. Play It Later

    I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to games. I bought Amnesia in a steam sale but still haven’t worked up the nerve to play it, so I went into this map pack with some trepidation. Unfortunately (or fortunately) none of these maps really got to me, but they have some fun ideas. A Murder and Nyctophobia are the two stand out entries here.

    A Murder
    It is good

    It took me far too long to realise the significance of this map’s name. The first half of the map was mainly about building tension, but I didn’t find it particularly scary, and it went on a bit long. After a few too many sudden noises and turrets, I started wondering when the map was going to get on with whatever it was planning to do. It took me a while to realise that the crows were the antagonists. At the corner where you are first attacked, I quickly died and didn’t know what was going on. Once I realised what was happening, I did enjoy the concept. The map has some meat to it as well, with a few nice little puzzles to keep things interesting. Still, it would have benefited from introducing the birds earlier, and doing more with them.

    Incident
    It is okay

    The music and courtyard scene (and helicopter, later) at the beginning set the mood nicely, and it was fun to explore the building. The trick with the changing corridor was neat. After that it’s just killing a few zombies in a tunnel, but it ends soon after, so it doesn’t outstay its welcome.

    The Stretch
    It is okay

    Figuring out what to do in the first room was fun. Other than that the map is a bit of blasé zombie-hitting, although I liked the use of backtracking with the battery. A good effort, but nothing in the map really grabbed me.

    Nyctophobia
    It is good

    This being the final entry, I was very happy to see someone doing something weird. Yes, the psychic birds in A Murder were weird, but the map design itself was fairly conventional. The map design in Nyctophobia, though, is appropriately nightmare-ish. I voted this as the scariest map, just because I felt like anything could happen. I felt antsy going through the environment, but it never got too obtuse to be frustrating. I will say that if the map was trying to convey a specific story, it was too vague to succeed, and if it wasn’t for the name I still wouldn’t know why some areas hurt you. It seemed like you could get yourself into an unwinnable position with the monsters at the end as well, but it didn’t happen to me. This map stuck out the most to me, but I’m not rating it above A Murder, as it’s a bit baffling, and doesn’t make the leap from being alienating to being truly scary.

  7. Play It Later

    I’d just like to start by saying that I don’t really seek out mods, games or even movies in the horror genre. It’s possibly my least favourite in fact. Having said that, in the spirit of Halloween or something, I figured I might as well try out HalloweenVille 2 out of pure curiosity.

    A Murder
    It is great!

    A nice little map and my favourite of the pack. It didn’t resort to using too much darkness in an attempt to scare me. On the contrary a lot of the areas were well lit and I actually really enjoyed that fact. The pun in the title of the entry quickly became apparent and with the game mechanics that were included I actually found this a little light hearted and amusing. I can understand why you would disable the sprint, but that just meant I had to bunnyhop everywhere instead…

    Incident
    It is okay

    This one was ok, but in the whole fear aspect it was pretty lame. Half-Life 2’s zombies just aren’t scary to me anymore. Even back in the day, I found Ravenholm unsettling, but not scary. There is some nice entity work in this entry though, with the corridor trick especially, even if it’s a little cliched for anyone who’s played the F.E.A.R games… I could be wrong about the exact series, but I’ve seen the effect before

    The Stretch
    It is bad

    In the Spirit of Hard November, I played through this mod in Hard mode. This was not advisable in the first couple of rooms and I got so frustrated that I considered cheating. I did not however, and made it through with a health level I could count on one hand. The rest of the map was alright, if not a little slow. Beating zombies to death with the crowbar on hard is a long winded process. Luckily the grav gun was introduced JUST before I got totally bored. Then I was one hit killing everything with a breeze block and got totally bored. Sorry.

    Nyctophobia
    It is good

    Nyctophobia, an extreme or irrational fear of the dark. Fatal in this case… It took me a while to figure out what was actually happening, but once I figured it out I thought it was a very clever system. The environments weren’t particularly impressive and I don’t really enjoy running around in the dark. The enemies towards the end through were very well done, working in conjunction with Ep2’s dynamic flashlight. Genuinely gave me the creeps. Really nice.

  8. Maybe?

    I found some of the entries in this mod difficult in places, but not that scary. Two pretty good maps and two that were just ok, even if difficult in places. I played most of the maps on Hard but couldn’t get past a few places without a little help.

    A Murder
    It is great!

    This was the best of the maps for me. I thought it made good use of sound effects, the removal of the sprint option kept you on your toes, and there were a few surprises along the way. The inclusion of the telepathic crows (I have seen them before – in the Dissolution mod) was interesting but I found when I played on hard this made it insanely difficult

    Incident
    It is okay

    A very short little map. The zombie section is very cramped and difficult but there was nothing scary here.

    The Stretch
    It is okay

    I found the beginning part extremely difficult. I was playing on hard and could not survive getting the crossbar in the confined space. Once I got past that (by cheating) then it got better. The inclusion of the gravity gun was a nice touch and helped even the odds for the player.

    Nyctophobia
    It is good

    A good map with some frustrating parts and some very clever things. I didn’t understand where the safe areas were and where the dangerous areas were. That was the frustrating part. The revised enemies were very cleverly done and I thought the ending was good.

    So overall I thought that A Murder was the best, but I have to say playing these maps on Hard changed my whole viewpoint. If I couldn’t finished a map on Hard it lowered my enjoyment. That may not be fair but it’s the truth.

  9. Here’s the playthrough of me and Ade. Video feed is my screen.
    http://www.twitch.tv/anicator/v/23630100

  10. Phillip I don’t know if it’s possible but if there is anyway to make a disclaimer or anything about restarting before playing each map.
    It would be very appreciated seeing as a lot of people aren’t getting the red particle effects in the areas that hurt you and the blue effects in the areas that heal causing a bit of frustration with my map :P.

    1. Zekiran

      Yeah I’m glad that I had already read the comments before both the 7z got switched out and started playing.

      Also to be corrected, there are no level / chapter titles on the menu, they’re too long to show up as just the name of the map as intended.

      1. Also to be corrected, there are no level / chapter titles on the menu, they’re too long to show up as just the name of the map as intended.

        That’s strange, works perfectly for me. Did you use the MapTap beat to install it?

        1. If it helps, I’ve also had this issue with the Ville maps every time I play them using MapTap as well. It only seems to be these maps too.

    2. I have released version 1.1

      This puts your map first and moves A Murder to the end, meaning the sprint key shouldn’t be an issue.

      However, I just tested it and I still don’t see red or blue spots. Could you send me a screenshot of what it is supposed to look like.

  11. It has been a lot of fun to participate in this challenge . I know that its was very short and not scary but I really wanted to finally release a map on this site . Thank you for playing :D!

    1. Yeah they are great competitions to get started in this is my second the last one (VerticleVilleTwo) had my first. Your map was very nice for a first release 😛

  12. Maybe?
    A Murder
    It is good

    I know the developer of this mod and I played his final iteration before he submitted it, though it’s the same. The best thing about the map is the geometry; it’s quite a bit better than the other entries and the environment on the whole looks more natural. The inclusion of a couple puzzles is always welcome and is another aspect of this map that distances itself from the others, which had no puzzles. However, I did not like the implementation of the crows. It’s a cool concept, but the way it was executed makes it so that it’s almost impossible to understand what’s going on when you’re suddenly being beaten to death by an unseen force. The first time I came upon a crow I died several times before I realized it was the one killing me. Perhaps a brighter or larger visual indicator that the bird is indeed the attacker would help this. Besides that, once you realize the crows are a threat, actually killing them is very difficult, especially if your last save put you in a spot just before a crow and you had low health. I’d just have to keep poking my head around the corner and spamming the trigger until I could finally hit the little bugger before it killed me again. Also, the section at the beginning with the turrets seemed altogether unnecessary. They had nothing to do with the crows and their presence in the level didn’t make much sense. Oh, and it needs some soundscapes!

    Incident
    It is bad

    This map may have been more frusting than A Murder. The ladder at the very beginning really screwed with me for awhile because the ledge is pretty far away from it so I just kept falling down once I climbed up. I died a bunch with the poison zombie after that since he spawns right in front of you and you have nowhere to go. The section with the changing hallways was a cool concept, but the author did it without using trigger_look brushes, just outputs fired after opening doors at the end of the hallway so if you happened to be slightly turned when you opened the door, you’d see the hallway behind you get changed. Near the end, I got killed several times in the final room that comes complete with 2 fast zombies, a couple normal ones, and 1 or 2 combine zombies. It’s too small of a room to have all that going on. And if you die, there are no save points so you go straight back to the beginning with the hellish ladder. Seriously, that was the scariest part of this mod. I ended up having to just snipe the zombies I could see from outside the room and then running past everything else to the end, which is right outside. That kind of felt like cheating, but it’s so congested it felt like that was the only option. It was very short.

    The Stretch
    It is okay

    The opening room of this map was obviously the one with the most time spent on it. Quite a lot of prop spam compared to the rest of the map. The room contains a zombie and no weapons, and the only way out is through another barred door that you can only break open with the crowbar, stored in an adjacent room with 3 more zombies. Though the rooms are small, a little bit of kiting can be used to lure a few out and then you can lock yourself in with the 1 zombie left next to the crowbar to single him out. That was the best part of the map to be honest. The visual style is pretty bare the rest of the map, but it was still better than Nyctophobia and Incident. However, it didn’t really feel like a real place, it was too linear. There were no places for exploration or anything to suggest that’s the place you’re in is being used for anything. The ending wasn’t very satisfying either, I thought I was going to get to kill the combine zombies with the forklift, but apparently you’re just supposed to run past them and leave in the elevator. It was longer than Incident though, which is nice.

    Nyctophobia
    It is good

    I’m glad I looked up the definition of this word before I started. This map had the best concept of all and was much scarier than the other entries, though it still wasn’t too bad (I’m usually an absolute wuss when it comes to horror games/movies). The part with the key made me confused for a bit as the door it unlocks has no visible lock nor is it lit at all. The premise of the map and the fact that whatever was attacking you could only do it in darkness and was invisible kept me on my toes and occasionally flipping the light on and off to check if I was in the dark yet, since it doesn’t respond to the flashlight. It was decently lengthed and the ending was at least a real end, if a bit cliche. The bad part about the map was the visuals. It wasn’t pretty and the geometry was very blocky. The lighting needed more contrast since the premise of the map made the lighting a matter of life and death. Even standing directly underneath a light I’d have to turn my flashlight off to be sure. Even so, I think the gameplay trumps the lackluster visuals and this would be my vote.

  13. Important Notice

    Due to some issues with the maps, version 1.1 has been released. The changes the order of the maps.

    If you downloaded the original version, it is recommended you either download the latest version OR restart the mod after playing each map.

  14. Version1.2

    Version 1.2 has been released. This includes an updated version of Nyctophobia, which makes the red and blue spots brighter.

    1. Nyctophobia is much better with this update!

      1. Yeah I pretty much made the map around the particle effects so the fact that they weren’t appearing made it a bit confusing for people 😛 .

    2. Phillip – FYI the preview images on the Chapter Titles are in the same order as before even though the map order has changed. So Nyctophobia shows the thumbnail for A Murder and vice versa. At least on my computer it does

  15. Hec
    Think Twice

    Sorry, but I really didn’t like this competition. HalloweenVille 1 is absolutely better than this one.

    In here we have many entries with an abstract concept of horror. Some of them, reminded me to the great “Korsakovia” mod, specially nyctophobia, which I think by the way is the better entry.

    The main problem I see in all of this entries is the main HL2 hindrance to transform it into a pure horror setting. That’s very difficult indeed. You know Zombies are not at least in my opinion the best way to try to scare someone in HL2, you know…

    Overall all of the entries have terrible endings, very cut off this whole competition could be called as Cut-off-Ville, if that would be an alternative name.

    I don’t know I expected something that really make me think well that’s scary, but shamefully we didn’t have it in this Comp.

    If you want to get scared via HL modifications, I absolutely recommend AoMDC, CoF, as I said Korsakovia, and Grey. try those ones and you at least will have some fun.

  16. Think Twice

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMyN2JBpeOE

    giving the player just a dark room and a flashlight doesnt make anything creepy and scarry. all the maps felt more annoying than spooky. im sorry guys, but its lightyears away from the qulity of ravenholmville and halloweenville1.

  17. Play It Later
    Nyctophobia

    Slightly reminded me of black snow, which is like the best hl2 horror mod ever. I can see why this one was the winner since it is the darkest and scariest. And it doesnt rely on headcrab zombies.

    Incident

    This one was pretty annoying. Starting with a weird ladder and you have to deal with in-your-face spawning enemies and doors that lock behind u for no reaso.n (prolly so you cant shot at the zombies from a safe distance). And it allegedly wasn’t finished (To be continued).

    The Stretch

    Fairly standard ‘zombies in an apartment’ map.

    A MURDER

    I was scared of those ravens not because of how creepy it is to have to fight tiny psychokinetic birds, but how much hitscan damage they do. These fowl creatures make the combine look like toddlers with toy guns.

    Seemed like everyone else played several ville mods already, but this is the first one for me and if this isn’t considered that good then I’d have good expectations for the other ville mods!

  18. Avoid It!

    A complete mess. I don’t know what happened, but it’s not good, not scary at all, no ideas, too much action and no ambiance, stupid antlions and zombies again and again, this is a huge let down since the first HalloweenVille and HorrorVille… There is no map to save in this one, I think this was just a really bad day for everyone.

  19. Maybe?

    When it comes to horror games, I get easily scared. Mainly because of jumpscares. Personally, I think horror games don’t need jumpscares. If they have jumpscares, they must be patiently paced. That’s why games like RE2 and Silent Hill work so well.

    Now, on to the actual review.

    The entries were mostly good, however they could have been much better.

    I have no favorite map in this Ville, because none of these actually entertained me to that extend.

    Nyctophobia

    It is good

    This one is a great entry. I have to say, it was pretty creepy. The mapping is really well done. The atmosphere is great and most textures are used in a pretty unique way. However, that’s not all. Sometimes, the mapping made no sense whatsoever and ended up being very maze-like and annoying. The worst part of this map is the gameplay. This is a huge reason of why I don’t play most horror games. They mostly rely on walking around until something pops in front of you. Also, the use of these blue and red areas is completely unecessary. These were just annoying. The use of shadows was pretty creative though. Overall, this was a pretty decent entry. If there was more gameplay and more variety to it, then this could even be my favorite.

    Incident

    It is good

    I think this map is cool, but I can definitely understand why most people here didn’t think so. I don’t know about the ladder you guys are talking, maybe I just forgot about it. Apart from that, one thing that people need to know is that a Halloween level doesn’t necessarily have to be scary. It needs to be spooky, and yeah, there’s a difference. That’s why I liked this map. The gameplay has more variety this time, but the mapping needs some work. The enemy placement is just annoying mostly. The part with the doors in the sewers was pretty cool though. That’s a great touch. Overall, this map isn’t scary at all, but definitely worth checking out.

    The Stretch

    It is okay

    I found this map to be a bit boring honestly. Apart from a few cool ideas from here and there, like in the beginning, where you have to hide from the zombies, the map is just a few predictably-placed zombies. Things like the mapping, the lighting, the combat etc. are mostly fine, however I liked how the map created tension, by letting you have only the gravity gun and a crowbar. This is why R&D works so well in my opinion. Overall, this is a mostly decent entry, but it’s miles apart from being great.

    And finally…

    A Murder

    It is bad

    Honestly, I don’t know what happened here. I really wanted to like this map, and the map did start with good intentions. I thought that this was gonna be the most terrifying map of the whole competition, but it just ended up being the most annoying one. The mapping is fine and pretty eerie, which is a great thing in this case. There is no combat, apart from that bird. THAT. BIRD. This is one of the most annoying things I’ve ever seen in a HL2 mod. Not only does it deal tons of damage, it does in a fast and annoying way too! So in the map, you’ll mostly shoot birds. Not even kidding. Overall, this map is far from being a decent one. Sad, because at first, I was impressed with it.

    1. Zekiran

      “A murder” of crows. 🙂 That was the point, I believe, behind the map. When the birds see you, they kill you, because, murder.

      *edited to add* how did I not ever actually go back and review this… jeez.

  20. Think Twice

    this is time I’ll never get back… Didn’t care for any but The Incident map was the best. Pretty cool ideas in the corridor I thought but overall too short.

  21. Unq
    Maybe?

    Just played this today for The Ville Retrospective. In general it’s inferior to HalloweenVille, although there are some good examples of creepy moments in the maps here. Still worth playing if you’re looking for creepy HL2 maps.

    Nyctophobia

    This map was suitably creepy and atmospheric. I really liked the shadow enemies – especially the stalkers. But the antlions and guard were kind of letdowns and felt a little too “Half-Lifey”. I didn’t get the red/blue dust until one of the stream viewers told me. Yes, even though you start right in front of red and blue glowing dots with a health symbol and a toxic symbol, the actual dots are much dimmer so I didn’t make any connection. Overall one of the better maps in this pack, although I didn’t love it.

    Incident

    This was also a pretty good map – but kind of missed the Halloween mood. Yes, there are zombies – but also a Combine helicopter and one of the only maps in either HalloweenVille with weapons. It’s competently designed but not very Halloween-themed – although it has some clever doorway sequences and some other creepy details.

    The Stretch

    A decent puzzle-based map here. I generally liked it, but it wasn’t really in the Halloween or horror genre – having zombies and headcrabs doesn’t really make the theme. This map isn’t bad, it’s just kind of a straightforward (mostly) puzzle map.

    A Murder

    Only later does the title of this map make sense. Yes, you’re up against psionic crows here. I liked the idea and mostly the execution, but I’m pretty slow and it wasn’t clear to me the crows were what was hurting me. And then, even when you realize it, it’s really hard to shoot them because as they are hurting you, your view is warped quickly and it becomes hard to get them in your sights. Again, I really like the idea of this map and I think the author should have committed to it and played with it some more – drop the turrets and go all-in on the crows, and make sure the player can understand what’s happening. Overall a clever map but could have been polished to a great one.

  22. Maybe?

    Two maps with just zombies and two a little more interesting ones. Played on medium.

    A Murder by Corvatile
    It is good

    It’s nice map with good visuals and layout, some puzzles, bird twist and balancing issues. Just a little bit creepy sometimes. I don’t mind the turrets, they made experience a little more diverse. Birds are too hard, they deal damage too quick and a lot of it, almost without delay and any visual or audio cues before it. Also, they are hard to shoot at.

    Incident by flying
    It is okay

    One of the zombie maps. Nothing special, in my opinion. Interesting corridor manipulations, but it’s stands out too much. Not scary.

    The Stretch by Nev
    It is good

    Second zombie map. Challenging first room, nice puzzles. Grav gun as a pleasant inclusion. Not scary.

    Nyctophobia by Daniel Friend AKA Dannster
    It is okay

    Most unsettling of all. With a lot of effort from the author. With interesting core mechanic. But I didn’t like it. Visuals are too dull and dark. If “light spots” were more lit, it would made a significant difference. I was confused with final part level design, needed some time and running in circles before getting to the antlion building and more running in circles traversing it. Also, really didn’t like antlions in final part.

  23. Maybe?

    My personal favorite is the last one. “The Murder”. Really good job Corvatile!

    Nyctophobia by Daniel Friend AKA Dannster
    It is dire!

    It’s awful.

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 0/10
    There is no “usage of space here”. It’s so jarring and confusing. I like abstract art, and abstract maps…. when they make sense. This didn’t make any sense at all.

    Visuals 0/10
    I couldn’t see any of the enemies. Therefor how can I know they are there?

    Gameplay: 0/10
    I kept dying at the beginning for no reason until I realized the tiny little floating particles in the air don’t move and pretty much instagib you.

    Final Score: 0/30 – 0%

    Final Comments: Don’t play it. It wasted 6 minutes of my night.

    Incident by flying
    It is bad

    What was the incident? Why am I here?

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 3/10
    Only about 30% of this map made any sense. I don’t even know what to say. All I remember are lots of brick walls and doors that lead to no where.

    Visuals 3/10
    There wasn’t any lighting errors and I could actually see what I was doing. It’s nothing fancy though.

    Gameplay: 2/10
    There was a random combine helicopters, but it just kinda ignored Gordon Freeman and flew off. Was hoping for a climatic battle or something. I only had a pistol the entire time (along with a crowbar), so I just kinda ran into the end of the map, abruptly.

    Final Score: 8/30 – 26%

    Final Comments: Play it if you want to. It took me only about 4 minutes to “beat” it.

    The Stretch by Nev
    It is good

    This is the first map in the comp that I actually liked playing… for the most part. There were a few confusing areas, like why is there a random barrel stored in the battery room?

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 6/10
    I really felt like I was actually underground. The cave-ins, the ground shaking. All very interesting.

    Visuals 5/10
    I actually liked the visuals on this map. The props were neatly placed like each prop had meaning in the world.

    Gameplay: 6/10
    The gameplay kinda falls off near the end, but I had fun playing this one. I actually didn’t get lost, I had a bit of a challenge that I overcame and in the end. I felt like I actually completed a map.

    Final Score: 17/30 – 56%

    Final Comments: It need a lot of polish, but by far the best one so far. Took me about 5 minutes to beat it.

    A Murder by Corvatile
    It is great!

    This is the kind of map I was looking forward to playing when I downloaded a Halloweenville Mapping Comp. This is great.

    Score Sheet

    Usage of space and world brushes: 7/10
    Everything was so fluid. It made sense. I didn’t back track a whole lot, only once when I didn’t find the crowbar right away.

    Visuals 7/10
    That bird effect actually got me the first time. I got a little spooked. Good job!
    The particles are used correctly, the fire makes sense. The lighting is a bit too bright though.

    Gameplay: 7/10
    Ok. I got spooked by the birds and a few other things. The attention to detail is great!

    Final Score: 21/30 – 70%

    Final Comments: Play this one now! Worth the full 7 minutes.

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