text:
A malfunction with the teleporter sends Gordon Freeman to a new location.
This mod features all 7 entries for the Interlopers.Net mapping competition.
Some maps have been updated.
- Title: The Forgotten Journey Mod
- File Name: hl2-ep2-sp-the-forgotten-journey-mod.7z
- Size : 150MB
- Author: Sloprano, Soulia, Sarwia, Spas12, Les Grossman, JIMONIONS and Marnamai
- Date Released: 28 August 2014
Download to your HDD [150MB]
You can still use it with MapTap once you have downloaded it.
- Copy the TheForgottenJourneyMod folder into your SourceMods folder.
- Restart or start Steam.
- The Forgotten Journey Mod should now be listed in your Library tab.
If you require more help, please visit the How To.. page.
The file above comes with 16 grid view icons. To use it, select "Grid View" in Steam (top right corner). Make sure you have saved the image to a location on your computer – you can't use it from the compressed archive directly. Right click on "The Forgotten Journey Mod" and select "Set Custom Image". Then browse to where you saved the image and choose it. Then click "Set Image" and that's it.
Of course, you can create your own custom image if you prefer.
If an entrant supplied a VMF file for other mappers to look at, it's in the VMF folder. You DO NOT have permission to use the VMF file as base for a publicly released map without PRIOR written permission from the author.
The entries within are listed as they are in the mod:
The Gutter by Sloprano
Stormbringer by Soulia
A Freeman Apart by Sarwia
Hazard Trip by Spas12
Transmission by Les Grossman
Lost Journey by JIMONIONS
Overflow by Marnamai
Long Long Letter by Pianochocolate from their album Lilac Music.
The PlanetPhillip.Com intro video was made by Spartan301
The playthrough/walkthrough below is provided by PlanetPhillip. See more of my playthroughs on this site: VP: PlanetPhillip.
Click on the tabs below to select the size of screenshot you would like.
All sizes are the same screenshots, just in different resolutions.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
Each map has 10 screenshots.
6Last 7 days
76Last 30 days
1,050365 days
Using MapTap: 0 Users
Manually: 9 Users
Time Taken
Average: 2 Hours, 17 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by Jim_Partridge
Longest: 3 Hours, 20 Mins by PlanetPhillip
Total Time Played: 20 Hours, 37 Mins
28th August 2014
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WOW, what a competition! Congratulations to Interlopes.net for running it and congratulations to all the entrants and the winners.
Below are my individual comments for each map.
The Gutter by SlopranoScreenshots: 1 to 10
I didn't enjoy this map much at all. It was just too ambitious for the mapper. Most areas were bland and empty and the whole thing seemed to lack planning and polish. The nice aspect was the raven and the crowbar. That could have been used to greater effect and have been the main element of the map: chasing the raven.The driving section was silly and spoilt any atmosphere the map had built. Those two little jumping blocks were downright annoying.
To be honest, I was glad to finish this map.
Stormbringer by SouliaScreenshots: 11 to 20
The atmosphere and visual design were superb. Playing through the ship was very well done but the inclusion of Father Grigori was probably not the right thing. Perhaps a super strong Elite Guard might have worked better.The balance between visuals and gameplay was just right and I really enjoyed the end.
A Freeman Apart by SarwiaScreenshots: 21 to 30
I never really enjoyed this map as I felt nothing "fitted". It seemed two completely separate sections: the station and the Combine areas. In a good map, they merge well, but as I said, I didn't think the author did a good job in that regard.The gameplay was certainly challenging and I can't complain too much about that aspect.
Hazard Trip by Spas12Screenshots: 31 to 40
The first thing that struck me about this map was the general atmosphere. I was always nervous that something was about to appear out of nowhere and that's how it should be in maps like this.I felt that the climax was a little too easy and too early.
Transmission by Les GrossmanScreenshots: 41 to 50
I enjoyed this map very much. I did some things really well; it started off gently and showed you where you would end up. It varied the feel, from rushed to exploring.The final section was great but I did feel a little lost. The inclusion of the generator with the missing cog was a distraction and the way the enemies appeared caused me to misunderstand my objective.
Final scene was very well done.
Lost Journey by JIMONIONSScreenshots: 51 to 60
The visuals of this mod were outstanding. Really, some of the best I have seen in along time. BUT. Yes, a but with capitals. The gameplay was terrible in my opinion.The first half lacks atmosphere and sometimes it's hard to know what to do – watch the video to see what I mean and then the second half turns into an absolute fight-fest that I can't believe can be completed on hard without cheating.
With some changes this could have been the winner but as it stands, it's just too frustrating.
Overflow by MarnamaiScreenshots: 61 to 70
The winner chosen by Interlopers and my winner too. It combined great visuals, excellent flow, polish and exciting gameplay into one map. It rewarded exploring, it allowed varied gameplay styles and had me almost falling off my chair.Lots of lessons for newer mappers in this map. Marnamai has built a worthy winner.
SummaryAs mentioned already, I feel this is a fantastic collection of maps. Each had something cool and to lesser or greater degrees produced interesting maps.
I have NO hesitation is saying you should PLAY THIS MOD NOW!
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
3 Hours, 20 Minutes -
OH yes!!! FINALLY HERE!! so Glad Phillip, many thanks for posting
Yay, thanks for posting, I've been waiting for this as well, to re-play and see the improvements brought.
Played all the maps on release on interlopers.
Will keep this fairly short, but every single one of the maps in here is enjoyable, and highly reminiscent of the mapping competitions of yesteryear. A few maps are a little rough around the edges, but all of them have such a great sense of creativity and identity.
The first and second place on interlopers were Overflow and Lost Journey, and I couldn't agree more.
Lost Journey was gorgeous, I've been a huge fan of Jims work for many years. I had a fair few bugbears with the gameplay and linearity, but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless. Keep in mind this release is balls difficult at times, and could have benefited from more testing, but this *is* a timed competition release.
However, the real gem of the pack is Overflow. We hark back to the days of Mission Improbable with this release. A super solid grasp on HL2 atmosphere and level design, with some quite fantastic additions. Feels like it's straight out of the base game.Overall, in a drought of genuinely high quality mods, this is one you absolutely have to play. You'll most likely enjoy every single entry and the winning entries will blow you away
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
1 Hour, 20 Minutes-
A few of the entries have been revised and re-packed into the downloadable in this post.
I'm giving this mod a Personal Favorite, which is something I rarely do. While not all the included maps are worthy of your time, the ones that do are some absolutely fantastic pieces of Episode Two mapping and outclass a lot of recent releases. Among these, A Freeman Apart, Hazard Trip, Transmission and Overflow are the best in the pack, with Transmission being my favorite. Stormbringer is decent. The Gutter and Lost Journey are poor.
– The Gutter
– Rating: Avoid it!
It's kind of unfortunate that this is the first map in the pack, because we get off on the wrong foot here. This map really has nothing going for it. It's visually mediocre, the gameplay is awful and the mission as a whole is unrewarding. You have to get a teleporter back online by activating three switches, but before you can do that, you'll need your Crowbar which was unfortunately stolen by a crow. Yes, a crow. Once you retrieve it from its nest, you meander around looking for the switches and engaging in one of the worst driving sections in recent memory. It even has a loop-de-loop. Oh, and don't get me started on the platforming segment.– Stormbringer
– Rating: Play it Later!
This map takes place in an interesting cargo ship environment. It's never entirely clear what your goal is, but it would seem that the captain (played by Father Grigori) has gone mad and barricaded himself on a lower deck. After dealing with him, Combine invade the ship for a tough battle involving two Hunter-Choppers. It cleverly ends with a "kraken" attacking the ship, which might explain why the captain went mad in the first place.Visually, this map is an odd one. The lighting is very colorful and reminiscent of late 90s shooters. Great effects like water pouring into the ship and distress spotlights give the map a unique flair. That said, the Combine battle is tough – made more so by the fact that it doesn't appear to reload properly. Combine which are supposed to grenade open a door won't do it a second time, so you either need to noclip or stack crates to get around it, all while taking chopper fire. Perhaps as a consequence, the two choppers bugged out for me at the end.
It's not a bad map, but not a great one either. It scores points for having a unique, well executed environment and for its genuinely crazy ending.
– A Freeman Apart
– Rating: Play it Later!
Like the other top maps in this pack, this map left me wondering just how much we could possibly cram into a single map! A Freeman Apart is arguably too long for its own good. It centers around a subway station with an adjoining Combine fortress. The architecture is competently built, but let down by the bland lighting. There's definitely a difficulty spike once you take the elevator down to the Combine base, with too many Elites and AR2-equipped soldiers, not to mention a Gunship. I died a lot on this map and felt like I was getting swarmed by way too many Combine Soldiers by the end. I've never been a tremendous fan of the late stage AR2-focused gunplay in HL2, so that certainly influenced my opinion on this map.– Hazard Trip
– Rating: Play it Now!
Hazard Trip is one of the most gorgeous examples of Episode Two's industrial forest look, which happens to be one of my favorite themes (hint hint). The map gets off to a somewhat wobbly start, with staggered sections of combat as you make your way down the main road. The weakest point in the map is probably the warehouse interior – with a punishing shotgunner who takes plenty of pot shots at you while you try to figure out where the heck he is (Stormbringer had a similar issue). However, the next two sections make up for it: a pleasing Sniper section which doesn't outstay its welcome and a frantic battle against four Hunters all at once!That's really where the level should have ended, but it meanders a bit too long after that and starts getting into platforming territory that I didn't care for, which did nothing but lower my impression of the map.
– Transmission
– Rating: Personal Favorite!
Transmission is a fantastic map, no two ways about it. It feels like the best elements of Mission Improbable and Research & Development thrown together for one map. It has a very surreal and eerie environment, much like MI's unlikely lighthouse. In this case, it's giant WWII-era radar dishes which you'll have to position correctly to capture a signal using equipment that makes creepy dial-up modem sounds. From R&D, it has a novel way of presenting you with your goal as well as a modification to an existing vehicle. Eventually, you do get the transmission out – but what was the transmission for? The epic ending leaves a lot of mysteries behind!In my opinion, Transmission was the best map in the pack and the one I would have selected as the winner. I have nothing critical to say about it. Except, well, maybe the Airboat would have been more satisfying if it did slicing damage.
– Lost Journey
– Rating: Think Twice!
Oh man, despite the fact that this was the official runner-up, this map was a wasted opportunity to me. Let's get the obvious out of the way – it looks fantastic. All kinds of lighting and ambient effects are brought to bear on this map. And yet, not a single one can salvage its hideous gameplay. The author needed to spend far less time on graphics and way more time on creating fun gameplay first. In fact, maps like these kind of upset me for that reason. You look at something like The Gutter and it's not great, but in a consistent way. It's not like the author got obsessed with one particular element to the exclusion of all others. Here, it's obvious the author had a lot of time to build a map, but decided to spend it all on the visual side of things and toss in untested, poorly conceived gameplay as an afterthought. This is the only map in the pack I did not finish. I give this map a Think Twice only because I think the visual tricks are interesting to look at.Incidentally, it also makes me appreciate Miigga's peculiar blend of puzzle/combat all the more.
– Overflow
– Rating: Play it Now!
I had tested this map a couple times, since the author had made it available on Interlopers. I actually liked aspects of the earlier versions more than the final one. I don't know – there's something that just feels "off" about this final version which is hard to explain. If I had to take a guess, it's that everything felt a little too staged for my amusement. Metropolice and Zombies are never just "there," they all have fancy little entrances. And don't get me wrong, those things are good and are to be expected in a great map – but maybe not all the time. It creates a weird, staccato pacing to the map as you feel like you're walking from one scripted setpiece to the next without much room for improvisation. I also didn't care for the parking garage battle – which must have been a late addition and felt very tacked on.Still, despite my complaints, this is a pretty fantastic, well executed map that perfectly captures (and in many ways, surpasses) the Episode One feel. It feels like an authentic "lost chapter" of the game – which is easier said than done – so it's easy to see why it won.
Great work to all!
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
3 HoursReplyEdited at 5:20 AM, 29th August 2014-
I'm guessing you failed the loop in the first entry? For me it was a short and sweet bit of fun that made me feel all giddy and excused the mediocre mapping before it. It's rare to see a fun driving bit like that in a shooter, imo.
I was unimpressed with that bit of mapping. I'm sorry, if I wanted some real loop-de-loops, I'd play Sonic Generations. Here, it strikes me as a mapper throwing up their hands and saying, "Screw it, I'm out of ideas. Loop-de-loop. Why not?"
ReplyEdited at 7:05 PM, 29th August 2014-
I still don't see how that's a bad thing, heck we even had a movieVille where you were supposed to be inspired by movies. Who cares where the inspiration comes from? As long as it's implemented well and it's fun to play, and it was, in this case, in my opinion and others'.
"As long as it's implemented well and it's fun to play, and it was, in this case, in my opinion and others'."
It doesn't matter how many people agree with you, that's still a subjective opinion. I have my own opinions and I have expressed them.
ReplyEdited at 7:44 PM, 30th August 2014
I am having the same issue as recorded by Jottl on 25th March on the MapTap: Beta Release 2.4.0 RC11 page – i.e. the MOD installs to the Sourcemods folder but it does not show up in MapTap. I am running Windows 8.1 and have experienced this problem with, for example, downloading this Sniperville 2 MOD using MapTap.
Grateful for any suggestions you may have.
Sorry for the trouble you are having. We are currently looking into a number of seemingly new issues. I am presuming that the mod is visible in your Steam library. If not, please let me know.
Exactly, which version are you using?
Thanks for responding Phillip and apologies for putting my comment on the wrong MOD page (should have been on Sniperville page) albeit I have the same problem with Forgotten Journey. I am using MapTap 2.4.0 and can confirm that these two MODs are visible and playable in my Steam library. MapTap showed Sniperville downloading but as soon as the download completed it disappeared from the MapTap screen.
I am using MapTap 2.4.0
Arh, there is the problem. Version 2.4.0 was not designed to "RUN" mods, just install them. Version 2.5 will be able to run them from within MapTap itself. Sorry for any confusion.
Thanks again for the feedback. No apology needed as I suspect the fault was mine – not reading things through thoroughly!
OK I'm keeping this brief.
Marnamai's entry is fantastic… does everything right. All the battles were dynamic, I had lots of options and were tough but not too tough.There's some other lovely mapping on show here but only Marnamai really understands how HL2 works.
All the other maps have no gravity gun which limits the gameplay significantly.
I was pretty bored while playing all the other entries unfortunately…Installed:
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
1 Hour -
This pack of maps was a lot of fun. I read the comments either after playing or while I was having issues any given map, and I have to disagree with some of the 'best of' – but I'm not really sure that I got a 'good' copy.
Here are my comments.
Gutter: …. Pretty bad overall. The maps showed promise, with interesting ideas. But the mapping itself was blocky, completely non-intuitive, and often just plain bad. Sections where water didn't completely cover the streambed, lack of skybox and open ends to see through the edges of the map, and overall ugly as hell.
Had to use both noclip and mat_fullbright to even get around in this map. The scripted raven was cute, but that was about the only neat thing I can think of. I didn't even realize it had the crowbar until I reloaded and noclipped behind it. The 'platform jumper' section was horrible in execution and shouldn't have been there to begin with unless that was a portion of the design competition (in which case, the competition should not have gone there, platform jumping is bad).
No idea what order to do things in, and absolute failure of hinting to the player at all what they're meant to do. I still have no freaking clue what the car in its building was supposed to be about. Mostly, because you can't actually enter the building, period. No entrances are open. What the hell was the buggy doing? How was I supposed to reach it? Or even know it was there? Half this map seemed to be completely unrelated to any other part.
In the end, this was an unplayable map, but it shows *promise* – if and only if the designer decides to listen to any tips and suggestions provided. It meant well, but it just fell completely short on all fronts.
Stormbringer: This is a beautiful map. Again way too dark for my tastes (it seems like all of them are these days – people, *use lighting* so we can SEE*) but given that, it was very well done. The boat itself, no idea what real boats look like on the inside, but the interiors seemed to be appropriately cramped and segmented. The added rain and dripping was fantastic. Though even after turning on the generator… still not enough light to see by.
The fights were challenging, but not impossible. However, did I miss something? I got to the helicopter and shot it down with one hit – and … there was nothing else to shoot at with the launcher?
The ending was quite the WHAT moment. Very amusing.
A Freeman Apart: this map gets generous kudos for exploration and feeling like you're actually outsmarting the enemy. Parts were utterly black, and again I have my gamma cranked so it's not like I can do anything more than hope my flashlight hits things I can use.
Short and sweet, this was a good map. I almost felt like I was cheating – I didn't explore the 'main path' area fully and climbed over the combine fencing, I have to guess I was supposed to do that? Good work. Ended this one with only 6 hp so it was a quick fun end fight.
Hazard Trip: at least much of this occurs outside, where there's enough light. Nicely mapped. The fights are *very* hard (with the combine). I loved the Hunter arena. Clever use of puzzle and exploration, though not so extensive to get overly confusing. The sound levels of the 'background machinery hum' were quite loud, I've never heard such loud buzzing/humming in any mod or in the games, though I don't know what might cause that.
Transmission: the soundscape and desolation of this map is gorgeous. Very nicely lit, great to just look at. I couldn't understand what the guy in the transmission was saying or talking about, much, so I have to assume it was mostly just generic 'talking / reading'… I managed to crowbar the first Zombine into the hillside somehow, as he was getting up. Can hear him under the hill still. Also, a couple supply boxes were underneath the wheels of the truck – like, only the very top texture was visible through the cement floor.
Good puzzle bits though I wasn't clear on why the zombies were transported to the location. And the ending, another woah weird. But, also an appearance from my Gman, so that's cool.
Lost Journey: Completely unplayable without fullbright. Also, completely unintuitive regarding… well, everything. I noclipped and full-brighted my way through this. I still have no idea what it was about.
From the images on PP's page, the lighting effects seem to be completely missing on my version. Since that was the case, I have to then defer to the other comments: even if there was enough light to see what was mapped, … I never even encountered anything to fight, because I couldn't get past the 'dispense the explosive barrel' section. Noclipped, done.
Overflow: the environments in this one were really superior. The action was hard, I god-moded my way through parts, because it was just TOO hard for me even on medium. I missed that you (possibly?) had to use the explosive barrels to enter one area, they blew up long before I'd have been able to use them. More of those everywhere around would have been better, to avoid the inevitable 'I have to noclip or restart and I'm not gonna restart'. Definitely a much better than average map, though too hard and slightly out of whack with 'medium'.
For my part, Stormbringer, Freeman Apart, and Hazard Trip were my favorites and ones which I think were overall the best. Most of them have good bits and some issues. I have to wonder whether something is wrong with my install or engine, because Lost Journey was *literally* unplayable for me due to the lack of any lighting at all for most of it.
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
1 Hour, 45 Minutes-
I respected Stormbringer a bit more when I found out on Interlopers that the author had built it in a span of just 4 days. Not to excuse it, but it's easy to understand some of its scripted shortcomings when you put that in perspective.
ReplyEdited at 8:15 PM, 31st August 2014-
Wow, that is actually…. wow. The overall impression I got was that this was a much more lengthy competition, and assumed from the completeness and extensive work on the maps that all of them took … I dunno, weeks at least! Great job!
Oh, it was a roughly two month long competition. For some reason, the author of Stormbringer started late, I guess.
The actual competition was about 5 weeks I think. It's just that map that was 4 days.
You can watch my playthrough and Anicator's playthrough of the first entry and see that the order of things does not make a difference, you can still finish it. You just missed one puzzle that lead to the buggy, that's all.
I think a lot of people no-clipped the barrel puzzle in the 2nd to last entry, don't worry about that.
As for the last entry, even if you do explode the 2 barrels, there's some small canisters before that, plus you have enough ammo to break the 2 wooden planks holding up the gate to the next area.
I love it.
I liked every single entry of it, except for Gutter. My two favorite entries were Stormbringer and Lost Journey. The atmosphere on those maps were outstanding.
And that's the key word of this competition, ATMOSPHERE. This seems like what every maker of those levels thought and they did a great job.
Overall, PLAY IT NOW!
Quite a mix of entries here. Overflow is amazing and I already featured it in an article on LambdaGen.
I thought The Gutter was too much of a mix of different ideas; having the "dropper" area in it was unnecessary. Stormbringer was a map with a nice atmosphere and it really looks like the interior of a ship in the storm. It was let down by some strange elements like Father Grigori and I thought it might have been better if we'd stayed on the inside of the ship.
Hazard Trip was a really cool experience overall, I liked the way that you work through the first outdoor area. Transmission was nice but I didn't really understand what was happening. Maybe I missed some story at some point?
Finally, Lost Journey I gave up playing. It looks incredible – really detailed and some great lighting tricks. But the gameplay is a mess. It goes from obscure puzzles (position the exploding barrel by a tiny crack in the wall) to stupidly intense combat situations.
Overall, definitely a mod that's worth playing. One of the biggest problems that a few of the maps had was that I wasn't sure what my goal was.
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
2 Hours-
Care to link to that article?
And did you mean to say you didn't play the last entry? Which is also the winner?…
First, I wish we could rate each mod with a color instead of the whole map pack. Like a mini-scoring system? Just an idea.
My quick take (not in order):
Gutter…Very blocky and generic. After just one minute I had to leave, couldn't stand it.
Lost Journey…I never did figure out how to escape the sewer pipe, and lost interest after about 2 minutes.
Transmission…After about 10 minutes of fruitlessly trying to escape a yard with 3 genric looking buildings and a lighthouse with improper looking stairs, I couldn't stand it anymore. With all that wonderful ocean/lake around us, and invisible walls keeping us in, I had to escape. Using my trusty sv_gravity 50 hack, I was able to escape the confining walls of the first play area. Then on a beach, I felt I needed a good way to get around. Again, reaching into my bag of magic, I used my mighty ch_createairboat powers and wah-la! But the airboat couldn't go more than 5 feet off the beach because of another invisible wall. I exited the game.
I guess I am sending a message…don't give us small puzzely play areas and tease us with all that beauty around it. And please people, stop with the invisible walls. It's like moding's biggest sin.A Freeman apart… Waves and waves of Combine. Some good level design though…and no inviso-walls. But, if you dare venture off the chosen path, you might get stuck and cant get back (like in the beginning, getting on the other side of the broken train).
Stormbringer…too cramped for my liking
Hazard Trap – (5 stars) This is a top quality production. Lot's of space, fast paced if you want, and although there are a lot of Combine the player get's well armed to fight them. Although I do not like puzzles, I do like "jumping puzzles" (like trying to get across radio active sewer, etc), and here we have some of that, and very well done. I like the eye candy and the mod's whole level design. Bravo.
Overflow – (5 stars) again, a well done mod that has lot's of polish. Great environment, eye candy, fun gameplay and challenges, etc. This is another one, along with "Hazard Trap", that is a must play.
Hazard Trap and Overflow are the winners.
To be fair, the invisible walls in Transmission probably wouldn't be there if you weren't high jumping/noclipping all over the place. At least, I never noticed any. If you skip a trigger or event earlier in the map, all bets are off because there's a good chance something else won't be in the correct state later on.
In the case of the first area, the sequence of events is started by picking up the Crowbar from the back of a Zombie torso in one of the huts. From there, you can break into the opposite hut and shut down the electrified fence.
The 'invisible walls' in Transmission were not invisible: they were electrified. They were keeping you at bay because you were supposed to turn off the electric field. Exploring a little more would have told you that. The entire first area was beautifully done, and you never GO to the beach in the actual path.
The fence was fine. But the rocks were not electrified…yet I couldn't jump on them. Invisible wall is why.
And I know you cant get to the beach…that's the problem!ReplyEdited at 2:45 AM, 1st September 2014
This set of competition maps was overall pretty good. I'm not going to review each map in detail, but I liked "Transmission" the best. The modified buggy was awesome. I also liked Gutter for it's challenge. I spent a lot of time exploring the map looking for a way to break the boards on the building with the gravity gun. Eventually when the solution came to me I was mad at myself for not thinking of that sooner. While I did enjoy the car driving tests, I also figured out you don't really need to do them if you don't want to.
My playthrough:
In general for map packs I recommend breaks between entries to avoid mixing feelings and opinions from previous played entries.The Gutter
I liked the fact that the author went back and revised his entry. He did make the air control bit harder, but he also introduced the crowbar and there were some other neat new bits like a ladder falling on your head while trying to mount it. Plus the non linearity, as you can either get the cb+ggun first, or the jeep first. It was also a bit funny and sad at the same time to watch other people's playthroughs and see them not having he patience to lift the white car all the way up to complete the intended steps for that climbing puzzle in the garage. Plus the loop was fun to drive through still, so yea, if you get past the fact that it's not aiming for visuals and artistic fireworks, or context for its puzzles, and just judge it from a gameplay perspective, it's not as half as bad as everyone says it is. It's more enjoyable than quite a few maps, mods out there, and even entries in this particular comp that put way too much accent on looks and completely ignore the fun requirement and the gameplay aspect, which is a big nono.
Playtime: 21mStormBringer
This entry on the other hand did not seem to have been touched after the comp ended, which is a shame. I'm guessing this will appeal more to Borealis fans with a sweet tooth for eye candy.
Playtime: 8mA Freeman Apart
The beginning was odd, as since I couldn't see Alyx, my attention was drawn towards a plug I interacted with, and turns out there is a trigger there but only after Alyx's speech, so because I did that first, I had no reason to put the plug in the 2nd time, slightly breaking the map. But being a small area with nothing else to do, I stepped into the plug area once more to trigger what I was supposed to and was then able to move on. Doing so, however, reveals this was also unrevised, with fps and ammo issues still blatantly present, making it impossible to enjoy any combat part. And this is mostly combat.
Think Twice
Playtime: 22mHazard Trip
The entry is still the best connection to the theme out of the entire mod, with a real feeling of 'teleport me out of here before this antguard sends me flying!' which had an impact on me. The level of detail is to be admired, although the lighting in some areas appears to have remained unchanged even though some complained about the mod being too dark in places. Layout wise was also pretty varied, and the combine combat was nice and fair. Player progression was so so, for example the jumping over the combine forcefield bit felt like breaking the level. In the end it was nice to see that the author extended the entry and named it accordingly, tho not sure who would benefit what from mixing goop hehehe
Playtime: 12mTransmission
I don't think this one was revised, tho it didn't really need it except for the fps drop in the tunnel and the fact that most players were made to think there was a cog puzzle. And giving instructions through the projector was a nice touch, it's hard to find a balanced and natural way to tell the player what to do, like not too hard so eons pass til the player gets it, not too easy so it feels like hand holding, and not too gamey/lazy like text on screen either. This would've been the runner up for me.
Playtime: 15mLost Journey
This one had me really frustrated both times I played it, for numerous reasons, and doubt it was revised. Basically when most players get stuck and feel the need to look for solutions outside the game, something is not right. Moreover, when most players will find that solution, but simply refuse to apply it, and just noclip their way out, means your puzzle is a crime against humanity. For this 2nd playthrough, I only went along with it for the sake of the vid playthrough, but I totally agree with (and advise everyone to apply) Phillip's 80/20 rule for puzzles, meaning 80% of the time and effort should be spent on figuring out the puzzle, and the rest on implementing the solution. What else? Oh, new models for valves and such should be shown and taught to the player first, and should not be used for detailing in some of the cases, and for player progression in other cases… Consistency.
What else? Shitload of zombines hoarding a weaponless, suitless player, in an area that's dark, crammed and filled with exploding barrels. At what point did that seem like a good idea, and what player in the world would find that part fun? Not to mention the final part, which is absurdly difficult given the huge amount of enemies, length of the battle and small amount of cover, plus 1 wrong step or unprepared shove/explosion/orb and you're thrown off the safe surface and die (this includes unfair holes in the floor in pitch black corners). The only people I could think of enjoying this would be the authors, while inspecting the vmf, from a visual pov.
Avoid it
Playtime: 37mOverflow
Does, I think, everything right from start to finish. Was enjoyable and fun even after N playthroughs, having tested this, as well. I was in awe, gameplay wise, first time I tested this version, it's just one good bit after another awesome bit! And it's got good visuals for those that go for that. Plus I just loved the uneven architecture and the clever and beautiful re-use of space. And there's an objective to rescue rebels in the end, so it has everything for everyone. The use of the sniper rifle is an example to be followed. Well the entire level is like a big modding lesson tbh. If you still haven't played this, idk why you're still hanging around here.
Playtime: 17mInstalled:
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
2 Hours, 12 Minutes -
The Gutter by Sloprano
Ok. I feel this entry a kind of bland for my liking. First I was at the expectative as this was a really huge map! So I expected plenty of combat, but mainly I got very disappointed at the end because it was zero, I mean, not combat AT ALL, so my overall feeling I guess is I think the author kind of wasted the great scenario that he planned out in this map. Maybe some Hunter combat or even some Gunship-Helicopter combat would have added some challenge to this map.
The pros about this entry are basically the overall good quality of the map, and definitely I can see the author has an enormous talent building huge arenas-map styles, I'd love to play some other of his HL2 projects, if he has some more? Especially, if on those we are available to combat the CMB a while.
Also the whole map felt as an enormous environmental puzzle that required some special difficult jumps, and driving skills; also that part where you only have like 3 or 2 seconds to open a particular door in the map is very, very annoying, and I also feel the sand buggy driving part really has not a quite clear or specific purpose. Yeah, I guess there's nothing more much to say about this entry. Overall disappointing feeling because the total lack of combat, I want to believe the author kind of ran out of time and maybe that's why he didn't add the proper combat elements to the whole scenario.
Stormbringer by SouliaThis was definitely a great, great concept. The whole ship reminded me to the Borealis, and the whole environment and wrecked ship in the middle of a storm atmosphere was absolutely immersive. Though I felt the whole map quite foggy, but I guess that was the kind of smoke effect all around due to the fires inside the ship.
The Father Grigory being the bad and super strong guy shooting at me with the SMG felt quite strange, as I didn't expected him there. I think a better character for that villain role would be better played by Odessa Cubagge or a CMB elite as Phillip has said. The way the CMB troops assault the ship is splendid, and then the finale was superb too, that brilliant thing looking like an alien Kraken was stunning.
I think actually the only shortfall in this entry was a buggy one, and that's it, that at least in my case the Helicopter almost didn't offer any resistance and I shoot it down with just one RPG Rocket hit.
A Freeman Apart by SarwiaThis entry was very good in my opinion and I really enjoyed playing it. The combat was always intense and strong in more than the 95 percent of the whole map. Also I liked that rebel companion at the end, the whole map made me feel the CMB really take care for that train-metro station as a perfect façade for one of its CMB facilities, so I guess the whole concept looked realistic to me.
Also the whole mapping was greatly done, and in some parts I can compare it with the almost valve quality standards. And actually the only things I didn't like were minimum, like for example a bad use of that mounted gun in the train station section, and maybe I got a little bit disoriented at the ending section of the map right a little bit before you meet with Alyx.
Finally I have to say this entry is perfect to play if you love pure HL2 combat in SP experience, and is one of the best that actually offers HL2 intense combat like any other recently launched.
Hazard Trip by Spas12I liked this entry. Overall felt almost Valve quality, and the combat was pretty good about its pace, and the mounted gun part was just pretty well done. The atmosphere and whole environment felt very good as well, and I had the feeling I was combat into a great industrial arena. Also that final arena where you have to combat the Hunters was a treat to play!!
I had so much fun in this entry, and I think it was all very well balanced and maybe after "overflow" this entry could perfectly be in a second place in the whole competition.
About this entry I just loved it was centered on the pure, sheer HL2 combat and the plot was simple: start at point A, and then escape at point B.
Transmission by Les GrossmanThis was a pretty good entry as well; maybe the overall visuals were not as stunning as the "Overflow" or the "Hazard Trip" entry, but the whole concept of starting out a transmission just to see a huge spacecraft or something like that crashed into the earth was stunning by itself.
The last scene was impressive, and the final arena where that cool modified airboat was, also was a very impressive place to combat. Though I can say I expected to have some CMB combat, but instead was maybe way too focused on zombie and ant lion combat, so that can be the main shortfall of this entry as I expected fight against the CMB and not those zombies which were teletransport from thin air, you know. Also that machinery with the missing cogwheel got me a little confused but finally I solved the thing out.
Lost Journey by JIMONIONSAlthough the author on this entry was really competent in delivering great visuals and cool very well polished quality mapping details; I have to say I didn't enjoyed this entry at all.
Yeah. Sorry but the gameplay was terrible, very, very hectic, with some weird puzzles and then the combat was just annoying because of those almost never ending spawning Combine Soldiers and Manhacks. And you know offering the player a superb hardcore battle at the end is not always a good way to finish a map or a mod, because you just overwhelm the player, and I guess that's exactly how I can describe my gaming experience on this entry, just overwhelming-overkill. Also the nuclear blast white screen ending is never one of my favorite ways to ending a HL2 map or mod.
Overflow by MarnamaiThis is with no doubts and in my opinion a fair worthy winner for this interlopers.net competition. Is just awesome, and by its own I definitely give this map an absolute Personal Favorite recommendation. Because the whole map offers a great combat experience, is always fun and encourages you to explore the map, and even offers you the one and only possibility of use the superb cool sniper rifle in HL2.
This entry is amazing because the combat is so intense and the whole map quality was delightful!!
Those visuals are pretty outstanding and just made me feel like I was in a real occidental style city shattered by the combine. I also think the whole pace between zombies and CMB combat in this mod is very well balanced, this map also allowed all the way plenty of exploring areas which hide very rewarding ammo and health so that's another great point in favor.
Then the part that really blows me away, as I mentioned, is the sniper turret!!! Oh boy that was simply brilliant!! You know, just the fact the developer allows me as a gamer to use the CMB sniper rifle was fantastic!! I had so much fun and entertainment in that part, and I can say that is great because so far, I haven't seen any modder to actually enable that HL2 sniping weapon. So congratulations; because of that part and the whole intense combat, I absolutely can say this whole map is worthy and I'd say from now a classic, yeah, a mod that allows you to make use of the sniper HL2 Weapon deserves to be called a classic!!
So play it!! If you love hard CMB HL2 Combat, you're going to love this one!
SummaryIn conclusion this is a great compilation mod. Absolutely entertaining entries are available all in one thanks to pp.com and interlopers.net collaboration, I guess this is a classic and an absolute MUST PLAY in the HL2 modding scene these days. And the whole feeling at least for me is quite similar to that another classic "Reissues" collaboration HL1 mod. Overall it offers very intense entries and absolutely cool combat moments.
I guess one of its points of success as a mapping competition is that the whole concept remain simple; that, and the fact interlopers is a very serious technical modding site attracted highly competent modders which offered us a nice great HL2 mod jewel.Installed:
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
3 Hours -
Wow, what a delight this mod was, in an overall sense. The entrants were mostly good to very good. Amongst the individual ratings, I've never seen so much divergence in opinions.
With only one map, it seems most of us agree. Overflow was by far my favorite, having great gameplay, design and layout, puzzles that fit the theme, graphics etc. Obviously a mapper who cares about the player's enjoyment of the game. A TON of thought went into making this one. A Personal Favorite.
In total contrast and bringing down my overall rating for the mod is Lost Journey. I gave it 4/10, and all of the 4 are for graphics. Fortunately in the modding scene there are few who design seemingly to annoy the player, and usually like in this one, its the childish "grand finale crescendo spawning of enemies ending sequences and grin at making the player die repeatedly so that the player hates me" type of map maker. I'll never stop slamming these people at every opportunity I get until they get the point of a 'Game'.
In between only Stormbringer was somewhat disappointing, I gave it 6/10. A Freeman Apart, Hazard Trip and The Gutter 8/10. Transmission 7/10. The one where I'm surprised most by the negative comments is The Gutter. Yes the car and road was silly and at least the loop could have been best left out, but the scale of the map was big and I needed a way to get back! There were lots of ideas built into that map which made me say "that was neat" or "aha". Yes it was frustrating in places and I seemed to spend a lot of time playing it, but I never lost attention.
ManuallyDifficulty Played At:
3 Hours -
Uncle Louie
A Freeman Apart: Did anyone else find the "Short-Cut" ending to this map


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If numbers don't lie, then we're all in for some storage overload. In the "digital universe" (which for now presumably includes just Earth), the amount of data collected by 2011 will be 1.9 trillion gigabytes, according to a recent IDC report commissioned by EMC. But how did they get that number? Dave Reinsel, co-author and group VP, says IDC arrived at its number by plugging digital storage shipments and content forecasts into an in-house algorithm. "I looked at tape, optical, disk and flash, and came up with how much we have shipped and how much will be available in the future," he says. Teammate John Gantz created an algorithm and applied it to digital content sources that included cameras, videos, LCD TVs, X-rays and RFID tags. IDC doesn't have competitors disputing its claim. No other research firm has yet tried to quantify all the world's data, leaving us to stagger under the weight of 1.9 trillion gigs of data until next year's estimate piles on more. --Christine Cignoli |
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At the Travis Hansen Charity Basketball Camp, children aged 6 to 18 learn basketball fundamentals, listen to prominent speakers, and participate in a service project to aid hospitalized children. During three two-hour lessons, former Atlanta Hawk Travis Hansen leads a cadre of volunteer players and coaches in instructing children on basketball fundamentals, from shooting and dribbling to tomahawk dunking over snake pits. Speakers at the camp this year include Brigham Young University basketball head coach Dave Rose and former BYU player Marty Haws. On the second day of instruction, camp participants assemble welcome kits designed to comfort long-term hospitalized children during their medical stays.
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Mon, Feb 6, 12 at 12:49
I've decided that I want a napkin holder to keep on my kitchen table. Something to hold the whole pile of napkins - not individual napkin rings. I thought this could be something I could craft at home. But I need some inspiration -I'm kinda envisioning something I could make with some mismatched plates. When I google search I'm mostly coming up with individual napkin rings.
Has anyone made a napkin holder? Can you post some photos. Inspire me. |
Follow-Up Postings:
- Posted by concretenprimroses (My Page) on Thu, Feb 9, 12 at 19:15
I love the idea of using plates. I've never done it tho. Good luck and post pics! It seems to me that you could attach 2 plates to a base similar to this one. (With plates instead of the metal rings) Kathy |
Here is a link that might be useful: metal napkin holder
Thanks Kathy. I like that. Trying to think of something creative I can use for the base. |
Cut two sides out of a quart milk jug. glue that to a salad plate, or small dessert dish and glue two plates to the sides,,,,, |
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