One Room – Map Labs Test Tube #1

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

6th January 2019

Map Labs has started running mapping challenges of their own. So far the challenges have all been single player HL2: Episode 2 maps (actually running on an improved SDK 2013 version), so they’re definitely worth keeping an eye on!

This challenge was a “Test Tube” challenge – a 72-hour weekend challenge with the theme of One Room – the entire map should be set in one room. The challenge received a solid 16 entries, and here they are!

Basic Details
  • Title: One Room
  • Filename: sdk-2013-sp-mlc-oneroom.7z
  • Size : 94 MB
  • Author: Jean “XBLAH” Knapp, Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon, LordDz, Lamarr, krassell, The_GuardianTM, Jankaszanka, Jmp, Apollyon093, White_Red_Dragons, Aleksandr “alex_mmc” Lavrinovitš, B.A.S.E., 1upD, FRAG, ThatsRidonkulous, Sejievan
  • Date Released: 5 January 2019
  • Related: Halloween Horror 3: Bone Room
  • Related: Two Rooms

Download Options

Download to your HD [94MB]

THIS VERSION CURRENTLY CAN NOT BE USED WITH GAUGE. SORRY

Manual Installation Instructions
  • Make sure you have the Upcoming branch of the Source SDK Base 2013 Singleplayer installed in Steam and run at least once. (Properties – Betas – select upcoming from the dropdown list).
  • Copy the “oneroom” folder into your SourceMods folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • One Room should now be listed in your Library tab.

Reviewing

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

OneRoom-Review-Template.txt

Thank you.

Entries

Listed as they are displayed in the mod itself:

Breengrub by Jean “XBLAH” Knapp
Elevator by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
Room in my head by LordDz
The Lobby by Lamarr
Cubicle by krassell
Night Shift by The_GuardianTM
Grand Cubus Lair by Jankaszanka
Destruction by Jmp
Here come the hacks by Apollyon093
CubeGame by White_Red_Dragons
Everybody loves combines by Aleksandr “alex_mmc” Lavrinovitš
Stormdrain by B.A.S.E.
Forsaken by 1upD
Heck by FRAG
Umbra by ThatsRidonkulous
The Cell by Sejievan

Community Poll

Time for you to share your thoughts! Vote for your top 3 One Room maps. Poll closes 23rd January 2019.

Which 3 One Room maps are your favorites?

  • The Cell by Sejievan (9%, 5 Votes)
  • Umbra by ThatsRidonkulous (17%, 10 Votes)
  • Heck by FRAG (7%, 4 Votes)
  • Forsaken by 1upD (5%, 3 Votes)
  • Stormdrain by B.A.S.E. (5%, 3 Votes)
  • Everybody loves combines by Aleksandr “alex_mmc” Lavrinovitš (2%, 1 Votes)
  • CubeGame by White_Red_Dragons (5%, 3 Votes)
  • Here come the hacks by Apollyon093 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Destruction by Jmp (3%, 2 Votes)
  • Grand Cubus Lair by Jankaszanka (7%, 4 Votes)
  • Night Shift by The_GuardianTM (5%, 3 Votes)
  • Cubicle by krassell (10%, 6 Votes)
  • The Lobby by Lamarr (5%, 3 Votes)
  • Room in my head by LordDz (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Elevator by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Breengrub by Jean “XBLAH” Knapp (17%, 10 Votes)

Total Voters: 25

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Playthrough Screenshots

WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

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

8 recommendations, average score: 3.75 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.94 (what's that?)
Total Downloads
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    Overall
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 8 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 8 Users

Time Taken:
Average: 1 Hours, 38 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 1 Mins by Luke Traitor
Longest: 2 Hours, 21 Mins by MeriMemes
Total Time Played: 13 Hours, 4 Mins
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
Jump to a review
Play It LaterPlay It LaterPlay It LaterPlay It Now!Maybe?Play It Now!Maybe?Think Twice

28 Comments

  1. Played/completed the first entry, but the second entry did not unlock?

    1. I’ve got the same bug. I can’t continue playing.

      1. Just fixed it. Type sv_unlockedchapters 99 in the console.

    2. Unq

      Sorry guys. I’ve updated the download.

      You can type this in the console to fix it: sv_unlockedchapters 16

      You might need this first: sv_cheats 1

  2. Sorry Don but I have to report not being able to unzip the download right now, something about cannot open file, unexpected end of data.

    1. Unq

      Doug, I just checked and the file is working fine on my end. You might have caught me while I was updating the download for the problem discussed above. Please try redownloading.

      The file is also on ModDB if you continue to have problems: https://www.moddb.com/mods/map-labs/downloads/oneroom

      1. Excellent, thanks, that must have been it. I downloaded again, the file size was much larger, and the first map works fine.

  3. Play It Later
    Breengrub
    It is great!

    What an amazing boss battle! Good visuals and effects. The boss’ attacks are creative, but it did start to get a little repetitive near the end. I also thought the battle was way too easy.

    Elevator
    It is good

    This entry made creative use of the challenge. You are in an “elevator” which teleporting you to all sorts of places. In each place you need to damage a powerbox which will send you to the next place. It could’ve been better at some points, the Gunship battle was way too easy because it just hung still in the air, for example.

    Room in my head
    It is okay

    This entry made good use of the theme, but I felt it lacked certain things. I thought it was pretty cool that the creator of the map “talked” to you but that’s kind of it. The gameplay is just one-shotting Combine because you are a superhero (don’t forget that this is inside the creators head). The length is also not ideal. It’s about one minute long. I know this is set in only one room, but I still felt it was too little.

    The Lobby
    It is okay

    This map uses the theme by teleporting you back to the beginning of a room multiple times, but each time you teleport back it increases the combat difficulty. This idea is good, but I found the execution to be a bit shallow. It just doesn’t really feel that interesting.

    Cubicle
    It is good

    Just like The Lobby, this entry had a great idea but it wasn’t executed that well. The controls to move the “room” don’t really work that well. I also felt very disoriented throughout, I never knew where I actually was and where my goal was. I had to noclip out of the “room” multiple times to see where I need to go exactly.

    Night Shift

    This entry felt like a mix between this theme and ReplayVille (you have multiple endings). It was a bit shallow. You just sit there for half a minute until you finally get something to do, which is either escaping through the vent, closing the gate or doing nothing. It doesn’t really offer much.

    Grand Cubus Lair
    It is okay

    After 10 minutes of shooting headcrabs I had to ask other people what the hell I was supposed to do in this entry. Apparently you need to shoot the cube-thing above you, which is the boss. This could’ve been presented to the player a bit better. After defeating the boss, I had no idea what to do again.

    Destruction
    It is okay

    In this entry you have to destroy as much as you can of your apartment. It’s a bit too simple, but it’s fun nontheless. Though after a while Metrocops start busting in and you have a little fight which also gives you more tools to break stuff.

    Here Come The Hacks
    It is bad

    ou like arena type maps with infinitely respawn? This may be something for you. I myself did not like this entry. The arena is very bland, and to only fight one enemy type gets really repetitive.

    CubeGame
    It is okay

    Pretty cool idea, but I have no idea how it works. I just randomly pressed buttons until something happened.

    Everybody loves Combines
    It is bad

    So this entry is basically a short film. Nothing interesting is done with the theme. The voice acting in the film is bad as well. Please give us actual gameplay next time.

    Stormdrain
    It is good

    This entry had some actual gameplay. It’s very short, but it’s good for what it is. It has some combat, some jumping and some putting-the-thing-in-the-other-thing-to-activate-the-other-other-thing.
    The visuals are good as well. Amount of attention to detail is very noticable.

    Forsaken
    It is okay

    This entry did not do anything particularly interesting with the theme. The gameplay was okay as well, although I found it to be way too easy, I only got damage about three times.
    The visuals were good for the most part, which is probably due to the reflections and HDR effects, which I always adore.

    Heck
    It is good

    Although very short, I quite liked this entry. It had a bit of “puzzle solving”, which I say with quotation marks because you don’t really need to think, you just have to do things in a certain order.
    What I liked the most were the visuals and the setting. I always feel a bit uncomfortable at places where you are so high that you can’t see the ground, and one wrong step means you fall down.

    Umbra
    It is great!

    Although not using the theme very interestingly, this is a really good entry. I love the puzzles, and how the monster can’t get you when you stand in the light. It’s some really good stuff.
    My major two issues with this entry are the difficulty and the alarm sound at the end. The difficulty is way too easy. Didn’t get hit by the monster once. Now what is wrong with the alarm sound at the end? The fact that it was REALLY LOUD.

    The Cell
    It is okay

    Idea is good, but the entry is a bit too long for what it offers. There isn’t really a way you can screw it up either, there are only about two ways to die.

  4. But are where voting?

  5. Thanks everyone for entering, look forward to see everyone’s next entries. Good luck!

  6. What kinda soundscape is that on the background map? Is it a custom one?

  7. Play It Later

    Wow, there are quite many entries here! The fact that there are 16 entries for this competition despite the unfortunate recent news warms my heart and makes me proud to be a part of this community.

    Let’s start with…

    Breengrub by Jean “XBLAH” Knapp
    It is good

    This map was very simple, but well-made nonetheless. It’s essentially a simple boss fight, which was really creative and fun to play. The area itself isn’t anything special, but it has some really nice lighting effects. My only “complain” is that the boss fight was really easy, but nevertheless, this entry was really good.

    Elevator by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is good

    This was a really clever idea, however I feel like the execution could have been a bit better. The mapping and the lighting were simple, but not truly great or breathtaking. The combat was not challenging at all, but there was a lot of enemy variety, which I really appreciated. Despite all these issues, as I’ve stated above the idea is really good and the different environments really helped implement it, but I just feel like the whole experience could have been a bit more polished.

    Room in my head by LordDz
    It is okay

    Honestly, this could be considered an “art-house” map, with the way the mapper is “speaking” to you, but other than that, there’s not much else to say. The mapping and the layout were pretty basic and just plain random at times. The gameplay is just one-shooting Combines and manhacks, not to mention the map’s length is 30 seconds to a minute. Maybe the creator really wanted to pass down a message about him to us, but I feel like this wasn’t the best way to do so.

    The Lobby by Lamarr
    It is good

    This was pretty much what I imagined when I heard the One Room idea. The concept is familiar and I’ve seen it in other maps/mods, but I thought it was fitting for the theme. The execution itself isn’t too bad either; the layout was perfect for the theme, with its arena-style design, but I personally think that stuff like props or useable objects/traps would have been a bit better. Also, the combat was enjoyable, but again, I thought it was way too easy. My biggest problem with this entry was its really short length couple with the fact that there could have been many more things to do and/or many more enemies to fight. Despite all this, I really enjoyed this entry, despite its shortcomings.

    Cubicle by krassell
    It is bad

    The design of this entry sounds promising, but every positive feeling towards this entry is quickly destroyed by its gameplay which ends up being really annoying and frustrating, despite its promise. What I don’t understand is whether the buttons correspond to the direction you’ll go or which surface of the cubicle will go where, I don’t know if I can explain it any better. Most of the time you’re disoriented and you don’t know where to go. I’m sorry for giving such a low rating, but no matter how good a map looks, if it’s not fun to play, then it’s not worth my time.

    Night Shift by The_GuardianTM
    It is okay

    I don’t have a lot to say about this entry since there’s not really a lot to do. It’s basically like a 1 minute cutscene until something happens and you can do something. What really makes this one stand out are its multiple endings, but other than that, there’s nothing else that’s really interesting or different. Also, an explanation on what to do and who you are would have been pleasant.

    Grand Cubus Lair by Jankaszanka
    It is okay

    Another boss-based map here. Many people – including myself – seemed at first to be stuck, having no idea what to do, but you’re actually supposed to kill the cube-thingy in the ceiling. Even after knowing that however, you can keep attacking it with the RPG for 20 minutes or so (in my case) without knowing that you have to destroy the other cubes too. That’s my biggest problem with this map; how misguided you feel. Other than that, there’s nothing more to say. The mapping and the layout are extremely basic and the only enemies you fight are fast headcrabs, and that’s it.

    Destruction by Jmp
    It is okay

    I thought this was gonna be a very fun map, where all you do is break things and what not, but turns out it’s not so easy to destroy your apartment. The first minutes you might be stuck wondering what to do, but just make really good use of your surroundings. The weird thing is that you get the crowbar later, but oh well. The mapping is very simple and there isn’t much combat, so I’d say it’s just OK.

    Here come the hacks by Apollyon093
    It is bad

    Yeah, this entry REALLY isn’t for me. I don’t like the idea of infitely respawning manhacks in a really bizarre map, with weird platforms and little detail. Maybe this is the work of a beginner, so I don’t wanna be too harsh, but I really didn’t enjoy this entry.

    CubeGame by White_Red_Dragons
    It is okay

    I don’t have a lot to say about this entry, since I have no idea what it’s about. I’m usually really good with logic-type puzzles, but I can’t comprehend this one at all. And the fact that you can simply press random buttons and eventually win doesn’t help much. At least the computer environment looks cool I guess?

    <div class="sbe3"Everybody loves combines by Aleksandr "alex_mmc" Lavrinovitš

    It is okay

    I have mixed feelings about this one. Let me start by saying that I love the fact that the map reminds me of old HL2 Machinimas, and as I have a soft spot for these kind of short films, I can’t really give this map a “bad” rating. Besides that however, there’s not much else. There’s no combat, and the real environment you see is a simple hallway. I didn’t really laugh at the “jokes”, maybe because I couldn’t hear them clearly. The map technically takes place in one room, but we all know it kind of cheated in some way. I really appreciate the work being put here but it’s just not for here. You can definitely do better!

    Stormdrain by B.A.S.E.
    It is good

    Now THIS is a map that could have been miles better, but for many reasons, it falls a bit short. For starters, I thought the environment was GREAT and the layout of the map was great. However, the fact that there was almost no gameplay kind of ruined it for me. Sure, there’s some combat, but it’s only like 3 enemies and after that the map ends. It’s sad to see so much potential being wasted in a map that’s only like 2 minutes long. Still, some extra points go to the really well made environment.

    Forsaken by 1upD
    It is great!

    This was the first “Great” entry for me, since it’s really good on most of its elements, mainly the design and the layout. The defense idea was really well thought out and I thought that there would have been more entries making use of it. The combat is great and challenging, and that’s what I like the most about this entry. Also the idea of playing as a Combine is something we’ve seen before many times, but it’s great to see it again. Kudos to 1upD!

    Heck by FRAG
    It is okay

    Wait… that was it? The whole map feels like a build-up to something else, but before you know it, it’s over… That’s too bad, since the idea of height is quite promising to me. There’s also not a lot to do here, you just mess around with some plugs, a battery, some switches and that’s it! Am I missing something here?

    Umbra by ThatsRidonkulous
    It is good

    This was a really pleasant entry for me. I really like the idea of using light as a means to save yourself, even though I’ve seen it in another Ville, for sure… And I also liked the fact that the whole area was really large, and it’s something that the other entries could utilize too, but it looks like they didn’t. I liked the “twist” near the end. Technically speaking, the map was quite good in my opinion, though the lighting could have used some work. Nice job!

    And last but definitely not least…

    The Cell by Sejievan
    It is good

    I thought this was actually a really fun entry. The idea of escaping a prison cell is one of my personal favorites, and this time it had a more realistic approach. I liked the concept of tying it to the events of HL2, so bonus points for that. The room itself is an average prison cell, what did you expect? I just feel that – like most entries here – it could have been a bit longer and have more stuff to do. Other than that, I quite enjoyed this entry.

    Summary

    While my ratings were mostly OK, I can say that the creativity of the community amazes me to this day, whether I had a bad or good experience with the respective creators’ maps. Maybe Phillip is gone, but it seems that the community will push through the boundaries of creative freedom even 11 (soon to be 12) years after the release of Episode Two.

    P.S. I kind of expected some sort of escape room-puzzle map to be here. Oh well…

    1. FRAG

      I will say for my map, it was just meant as a mini experience, the gameplay was intended to be short as it was the environment that was more the focus.

      An experience that could lead to more and be plugged into the timeline at various points.

      no hidden tasks or tricks 😉

      1. Anon_1735183

        I liked your map though. Love the visuals and the setting.

        1. Oops, forgot to log in. Anon_1735183 is me.

  8. MapLab 2 is out now as well, 7 good maps.

  9. jokilil

    I have good internet, but I can’t download anything from this site, the maximum speed is 100 kb per second. What should I do?

    1. Unq

      Sorry, not sure what to say other than maybe you caught the server at a bad time. I just tested this download and it hit 16 MB/s for me.

  10. Play It Later
    Room in my head
    It is okay

    Sorry, but i didn’t liked this map, because i thinked map is going to be good,
    but then it teleports to room with advisor, then it starts spawn combines.

    The Lobby
    It is okay

    Map is okay, because map starts with metrocops, then combine soldiers, and
    then hunters.

    Destruction
    It is okay

    This is just a map, where player trys destroy his room. For me, there is not
    interesting about this map.

    Cubegame
    It is good

    Map is good. I love background of the map, Also this map haves some buttons.

    Everybody Loves Combines
    It is good

    I will say map is okay, because it’s just look like short film. But short film is awesome.

    Forsaken
    It is WOW!

    I’m finally found very fun map. Map is great. I enjoyed playing that map. I recommend that map.

  11. Play It Now!

    One Room looks easy to make a map but I love the details around it apparently. I was expecting to be in a bad cube map but it wasn’t.

    Breengrub by Jean “XBLAH” Knapp
    It is WOW!

    Playtime: 2:10 mins
    Simple map with one boss battle involved. At first I thought it would be dull but I realized the boss battle is pretty challenging. I know this is a fusion of One Room and BossVille. Why I rate this 5 is because of its simplicity and gameplay.

    Elevator by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is great!

    Playtime: idk
    Another great entry right here. It is promising that you stay in the elevator while you shoot whatever is outside and proceed to the next level by shooting the switch. Fun to play as a matter of fact. The combat is kinda fun.

    Room in my head by LordDz
    It is okay

    Playtime: idk
    As promising as it is, this looks pretty fine except you just run around and shoot and kill enemies with one hit regardless of what weapon you’re using. Other than that, it’s plain boring but at least it has playability.

    The Lobby by Lamarr
    It is good

    Playtime: idk
    Much similar to Room in my head, this one seems more fun and challenging. Run around and shoot enemies, grab the weapon at the lambda logo to proceed to the next wave, still fun as well.

    Cubicle by krassell
    It is bad

    Playtime: unfinished
    I am terribly sorry for this. This looks like a good map with visuals, gameplay and such but the movement of the cube or should I say the map, it makes me feel sick and uncomfortable to play. And with that, I am unable to finish it without getting dizzy.

    Night Shift by The_GuardianTM
    It is okay

    Playtime: idk
    Not bad but kinda bland, boring. Sure this has one room but this entry has multiple endings so this is more of a ReplayVille than One Room.

    Grand Cubus Lair by Jankaszanka
    It is dire!

    Playtime: unfinished
    Another bad trolling map I have been to. First I have no idea what to do. I had to go to the forums or walkthroughs to realize that this is a boss map. You think this is hard but no. This is plain frustration because it has no guidance. It took me a couple of rpg rounds to destroy the cube and after that, I’m back being clueless again! Don’t ever waste your time on this. I’d recommend skipping this entry because this only has frustration and time wasting.

    Destruction by Jmp
    It is great!

    Playtime: idk
    So this is a good entry, why? At first I thought destroying the apartment would be easy but it comes to a challenge so you’re gonna have to use a little more thought to make it destructive as possible and that’s fun. I never made 90% and above but you know what, this entry is overall good.

    Here come the hacks by Apollyon093
    It is bad

    Playtime: unfinished
    Here comes another bad map as if I have no idea what to do but to run around and destroy manhacks. I decided to skip this because I’d rather not waste time on this.

    CubeGame by White_Red_Dragons
    It is good

    Playtime: idk
    Feels like a fusion of Think Tank and this. But the puzzle seems fair challenge, not too hard, not too easy. Basically you need to have a knowledge of Discrete Mathematics or just punch random buttons until the green line reaches the top.

    <div class="sbe3"Everybody loves combines by Aleksandr "alex_mmc" Lavrinovitš

    It is dire!

    Playtime: idk
    What is this? Where is the gameplay?

    Stormdrain by B.A.S.E.
    It is good

    Playtime: idk
    Good map but too short. I was hoping that it would be a fun and challenging map but the only combat is a few combine soldiers and that’s it. Your task is just escape the stormdrain and nothing more.

    Forsaken by 1upD
    It is WOW!

    Playtime: idk
    This is the competitor to Breengrub. Apparently, this has a challenging combat here especially you have very limited health supplies against a wave of powerful enemies. I’d say this is a fun survival challenge where you spam your turrets and pistols to your enemies.

    Heck by FRAG
    It is good

    Playtime: idk
    Visuals and background are amazing. Despite that I had no idea what to do until flipping three switches, it’s still a good map.

    Umbra by ThatsRidonkulous
    It is okay

    Playtime: unfinished

    The Cell by Sejievan
    It is great!

    Playtime: idk
    Simple map but really fun to look at the details of it. Simple tasks, escape the cell, and that’s pretty much it. But hey, at least it is not as bad as the rest of the maps.

    Summary

    The Cubicle should be the winner here but as for me, I didn’t enjoy the gameplay. And for that, I’d take Breengrub as the winner of One Room challenge, Forsaken being the runner up

  12. Maybe?

    I didn’t care for any of them.

  13. Play It Now!
    Breengrub

    The map feels like a boss fight in a game. Tight and fun map!

    Elevator

    Super creative! I like that I can visit many places such as outside, HL1-like place, even space.

    Room in my head

    I can’t figure out what is happening after I grab the baby doll… It’s cool that the player can kill an enemy by using just one bullet.

    The Lobby

    This map is basically a simple arena-style map, but the creator made it impressive by putting the surreal level transitions on the beautiful building!

    Cubicle

    The visual of the map is nice. But when I try to operate the lever, the lever doesn’t move and nothing happens. I tried to rotate the room in every direction but I couldn’t figure out how to pull the lever.

    Night Shift

    What a fun concept map

    Grand Cubus Lair

    After killing tons of fast headcrabs, I found out that I have to shoot the cube-monster on the ceiling. After shooting it many times, I couldn’t find out how to kill it completely.

    Destruction

    The idea of the map is nice. I couldn’t find a way to get above 90%.

    Here Come The Hacks

    I like the visual of the huge facility. But I don’t know what to do instead of killing the infinite number of manhacks.

    CubeGame

    Nice idea! Good game for practicing the logic gates.

    Everybody Loves Combines

    It’s fun to watch the combine soldiers talking with kids’ voices.

    Stormdrain

    Nice small puzzle.

    Forsaken

    Fun arena map.

    Heck

    Short and fun puzzle.

    Umbra

    Since the map is very dark, I couldn’t find out what I have to do. So I used mat_fullbright hack and found out that I have to go upward, press the button, and escape through the door.

    The Cell

    Creative map!

    Tip. Bring the items to the toilet to open them. / Bring the items to the heater to heat them up.

  14. Maybe?

    Hello there!
    Time to give my first review here.
    There are a few good ideas in this tubes, but also a lot of less good ideas and some good ideas with questionable execution.

    Breengrub by Jean “XBLAH” Knapp
    It is good

    A creative boss battle. I struggled a bit to understand how to damage it, I was just throwing barrels and stuff at it, before figuring out you have to use the bombs dropped by the helicopter. Overall a good balance of health given and damage dealt by the boss. Though what’s the point of putting Alyx in if she’s just gonna stay still and do nothing?

    Elevator by Matt71490 AKA Event Horizon
    It is great!

    Despite it’s simple premise, I really loved the concept of the elevator. You go from floor to floor, having no idea what to expect, and you have to deal with the presented situation. You can also use the elevator to store physic items (like gas canister or sawblade) for further use.
    It’s a bit messy at times, like you can hear the manhacks from the first floor despite not fighting them before floor 5 ; but I would love a mod with about a hundred or so rooms randomized in this setting.

    Room in my head by LordDz
    It is dire!

    What is the meaning of all this? Is this an artistic work? Is this supposed to represent the mental state of the creator or something? I didn’t read the text since I was too busy fighting. But no real gameplay proposition here.

    The Lobby by Lamarr
    It is okay

    I like the idea of restarting the same room again several times, but it’s a shame that the only thing that changes is the enemies. It would be better if there was some kind of alteration each time you restart the room.

    Cubicle by krassell
    It is bad

    Tired of being a sane person? Tired of not having a headache? This map is for you!
    I don’t have problems with the puzzle solving genre, but this one is brutal. It feels like one of the end-game level of a game based on this concept. It’s extremely disorienting and the fact that the whole level is very dark doesn’t help (pro-tip : turn on the flashlight). And even when you finally more or less get what’s happening here, it’s still very difficult to do what you try to achieve. The creator could have shown a bit of mercy by putting a button on the 6 faces of the cubicle instead of just 4, but alas, no.
    God knows how I ended completing the first objective, but the second one never appeared for me, and after a bit of messing around, I decided to preserve what was left of my sanity by turning the game off.

    Night Shift by The_GuardianTM
    It is bad

    There’s almost nothing to do. Too bad. I feel like you could make a Papers Please -kind of game here, for instance by opening the gates to Resistance and denying entry to the combine, with a few twists here and there.

    Grand Cubus Lair by Jankaszanka
    It is bad

    It’s a puzzle solving map, except you’re being harassed by an infinite swarm of fast headcrabs while trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do. I finished it, but it was extremely annoying.

    Destruction by Jmp
    It is good

    An original concept, I quite liked it. You need to be a bit more creative than just smashing everything with a crowbar to progress. The combine intrusion in response to the chaos is quite funny, and serves as an excuse to give you more tools to finish the job. I ended up with 93%, not bad! Although I don’t really get how killing the sniper adds to your apartment destruction score.

    Here come the hacks by Apollyon093
    It is dire!

    What’s the goal? What am I supposed to do? Why is the map cycling between 2 stages? Why should I go out of my way to collect weapons whilst I’m directly being given the best weapon (gravity gun) to deal with manhacks at the very begining? None of this question will be answered.

    CubeGame by White_Red_Dragons
    It is bad

    It’s a shame to put a low score on what I think is a nice idea. But there are too many problems here :
    First, if you have no idea what logic gates are, you can’t play the map. Slaping a jpeg of some truth tables wouldn’t have cost much time and it would have made the game accessible to the non-iniates.
    Secondly, you can just push random buttons and still win. A system where you have to validate all your choices of buttons pushed or not pushed at once would have been nice.

    And finally, the biggest problem of all, some gates doesn’t work the way they should! On the first problem, the XOR gate is actually an AND gate. On the second problem, the OR gate is also an AND gate. And you have 2 entries on the NOT gate, which doesn’t make any sense!

    Also, the computer explodes before you can finish the last level??

    <div class="sbe3"Everybody loves combines by Aleksandr "alex_mmc" Lavrinovitš

    It is dire!

    Nice shitpost, I guess?

    Stormdrain by B.A.S.E.
    It is okay

    It feels like a room extracted from the original game. A bit of a physic puzzle, a bit of fight, and voilà. It ain’t bad, it’s nicely executed, but there’s no originality I feel like, not really in the spirit of a “test tube”.
    Also on my first playthrough I got the Super Gravity Gun instead of the normal one. I don’t know why, wasn’t able to replicate it, and I only play vanilla so this doesn’t come from me cheating.

    Forsaken by 1upD
    It is okay

    I liked the idea of a solitary combine soldier holding a position. But maybe the waves of enemy could have been a bit more interesting. Once the crowbar-armed resistance guys penetrate your room, you have to run around and kyte them for a solid 2 minutes. Not very fun.
    Also, the antlion workers are a pain to deal with because they stay hidden in the fog, and they’re quite beafy.

    Heck by FRAG
    It is bad

    Sooo… You put battery into battery socket. You push button. You flick switches. And… That’s it?

    Umbra by ThatsRidonkulous
    It is great!

    A really nice concept! Avoiding the dark at all cost or else being eaten by the monster. The atmosphere is really cool. And the emergency at the end has you really stressed and puts you in a rush to finish the level! I liked it.
    The mechanic isn’t perfect, though, and I had the antlion attacking me despite holding a flare sometimes. And the fact that it’s “just” an antlion makes it a bit less scary than it should be.
    But overall a great map!

    The Cell by Sejievan
    It is okay

    Nothing very interesting to do here… I guess it’s more about lore? But even the story isn’t very interesting. Too much time spent for to little things to do.

  15. Hec
    Think Twice

    Well, I only can think of this 1st map lab as a whole concept of entries so I’ll express my thoughts about it as an entire unit.

    For me, this was pretty close to an “Avoid It”, but I will rate it as a “Think Twice” because some others may find this enjoyable to play. I didn’t find it enjoyable but most of the time hectic and frustrating at many entries.

    I guess this map lab didn’t make it for me because of the concept. You know, maybe the one-room topic can be actually a pretty interesting idea setting to explore and develop, but I guess it was because it was a really limited space to bring those ideas to reality.

    Some entries were a trigger mess like the one where you were inside a computer circuit, and some others like that one about the black and white cubes, with never-ending spawn enemies, or the one with the never-ending spawning man hacks, were truly annoying and a pain in the arse to play.

    Despite this, I guess Drainage or drain storm, forgot its name sorry, was the best entry, neat nicely looking, and with the fine exact amount of combat, so I hope that was the one who won.

    Overall for me, this was a big Think Twice, I am sure there are far better map lab competitions to play, especially with less restrictive design conditions.

    1. Hec

      P.D. Cubicle was a pain in the butt to play also. But on that one, I got hooked until I figured out how to solve it.

      And despite I hate puzzle games with all my soul, this one got a clever concept that maybe with a 3rd view option could be better executed and less annoying to solve.

  16. Lots of these are hit or miss, I did enjoy Elevator though, the cell was also nice.

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