Comments on: Cooldiradical – Half-Life 2: Ep2

By: geekofalltrades

geekofalltrades — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:21:03 +0000

Yeuch… I got two minutes in and already this map was irritating the crap out of me (and no, this was not a case of me deciding not to like the map based on the first two minutes). The acid pit puzzle, the tile puzzle, and the rope-suspended jumping puzzle all felt tedious to me. The map didn’t make a whole lot of sense, either, both continuity-wise and environment-design wise. Also, I carried the gnome through on my my first runthrough,

Spoiler Inside	Select Show
and it would have been nice if that had actually meant something.

By: Zekiran

Zekiran — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:21:03 +0000

I absolutely loved playing this map. While I like fighting, and there was just enough to get me going, I really liked the feeling of having to figure out what to do.

Definitely the single best acid-pit puzzle EVER.

I didn’t take the gnome with me, I’ll have to do it again and see what’s up with that And, I used the manhack expertly for the rope puzzle, that felt like an accomplishment.

All in all, this is a puzzle-lovers map. Very clever, I like the ending, as it feels like an ‘ending’ instead of merely a fade-to-black.

Good work.

By: eeVee

eeVee — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:54:30 +0000

Mostly fun. I hated the tile puzzle. So after trying various solutions I didn’t mind looking at the screenshot here. So I solved it, and *then* found the clue in-game. The other puzzles were fine or kind of fun.

Virtually the only combat is at the very beginning, except for some manhacks.

So if you really want combat, don’t play this. If you want some puzzles, play it.

By: Anon_219056

Anon_219056 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:04:19 +0000

nice map i enjoyed it, i too carried the gnome to the end, but i didnt see its purpose

By: Miigga

Miigga — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:42:50 +0000

I started out making maps for Garry’s Mod and the gm_ prefix just kind of stayed with me. I know I probably shouldn’t use it for ep2 maps but I am using it anyway.

By: Muzzow

Muzzow — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:04:26 +0000

I am playing this map right now (having a LOT of fun with it, btw), and I’m curious. I found your maps as dlc for the garrysmod community, and gm_ hints at Garrysmod per se. Is this a mere coincidence? Coolgluon and coolforestwalk definetely rings a bell… ^^

By: Miigga

Miigga — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:48:57 +0000

Oh, I should probably mention that I just released a new singleplayer map; gm_coolgluon

Right now I seem to be naming maps by adding a random chemistry-related word to gm_cool.

By: Miigga

Miigga — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:45:17 +0000

Oh, my other singleplayer maps are here as well.

Guess I have some reading to do now.

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:39:44 +0000

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Short maps like this often suffer from “not making sense”, simply becasue you are just putting things together. Even though I don’t map I image making puzzles that are part of the environment must be really hard.

By: Miigga

Miigga — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:27:17 +0000

I am the author of this map. Just today I learned that my map has been posted on this website.

Yeah, I am quite aware that the puzzles don’t make any sense and neither do many of the locations. (especially that place where the player has to hop around on pipes and stoves and other things) Maybe I should start giving a bit more attention to whether things make sense or not. Just maybe.

I’m glad that the map is getting overall positive feedback, though. Thanks.

By: Mel

Mel — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:10:23 +0000

For a puzzle map I enjoyed this one, maybe due to the fact that I could work out the puzzles without going mad, plus it was not too long so I did not get bored with the limited gameplay.

By: SolidFake

SolidFake — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:11:58 +0000

Very nice map, especially it was quite long for beeing a single map.
The puzzles were nearly all good, but I heavily don’t like how they are just random ideas. Why are suddenly cubes coming out of the poisoned water and why are they disappearing again? Why do my boxes disappear when I walk in another room? Why is there a ladder in a ventilation shaft? Why are there coolers hanging on their cables at the ceiling? And many more things like that.
But if you ignore the logic of those things, you get an entertaining and funny map.
Also the indoor settings were suberb! That’s how Slums2 should look!

By: grabbie

grabbie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:28:39 +0000

I didn’t even notice the axe. I will have to be more careful of my surroundings =)

I curious now to see what the easter egg is with the gnome.

By: hl2-fan

hl2-fan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:44:08 +0000

Yah, sorry bout that. Played it again, and agree its pretty good mod. No bugs, except in my head. I just assumed that the big boxes there were suppose to be used to get up the ladder. dohh!

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:04:20 +0000

Mmmmm, sounds like I’ll have to go back and carry it to the end too. Thanks for the tip.

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:03:20 +0000

I meant to mention that disappearing thing but forgot. You don’t need to noclip past this section becasue the solution is in the room already. I also don’t think it’s a bug, but the author could have designed the area better.

By: hl2-fan

hl2-fan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:11:24 +0000

I have a problem with this mod, it violates a basic rule in playing hl2 – the illusion of an objective physical world. namely the room in picture 14 (right after using the rpg). when picking up boxes and barrels from the previous room to use at the broken ladder, they disappear when entering the room. this a annoying bug that forces you to noclip past. ruins the mood. Has anyone else had to nolcip past this point?

By: demoneyeoffire

demoneyeoffire — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:08:45 +0000

the gnome was an easter egg, I carried it with me the rest of the map, and let me just say I’m glad I did

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 08:44:48 +0000

I didn’t use a manhack to cut the rope but an axe I found a few metres away. I also found the gnome but don’t know if it was used for anything.

By: grabbie

grabbie — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:44:19 +0000

I thought it was alright. I had a feeling that this was made as an action level before being converted into a puzzle map. That might explain why the ammunition is spread all over the map. The puzzles themselves were ok. I needed to reload once when (incoming spoiler): you needed to use the manhack to cut the rope. I killed him and couldn’t find another way to cut it. Hence the reload. (End Spoiler).

Overall it was enjoyable but it’s not a map I would tell someone to rush to play. Did anyone else find the gnome hidden? What was the purpose of it?

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:39:09 +0000

Jasper, that’s a good point about the weapons. I wonder if it’s a “left over” from a development cycle when the map had more combat.

Also, I only have three recommendation images (Play It!, Maybe and Avoid It!) and I felt it was definitely better than a Maybe.

By: Jasper

Jasper — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:07:25 +0000

Quite liked it. Not a pin for sure but I think most gamers will enjoy most of it. Pity that the puzzles and combat are not more evenly sprinkled to keep the attention of the fighting gamer. This starts quietly, then explodes with a good combat sequence. After that it’s mostly problem solving. One wonders why we are so grossly equipped with ordinance with nothing much to do with it.

By: planetphillip

planetphillip — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:02:03 +0000

Making comparisons is a natural thing. We all do it, in all parts of our lives. Was Ali better than Mike, Is this car better/faster/more expensive than that one, who would win a fight between Batman and Freeman etc etc. Well, with the release of Research and Development all puzzle mods, heck even all puzzles, will be compared to that. In some ways that's good because it may make puzzle makers try harder and it's bad because not everybody can make a sensational puzzle. Cooldiradical does a fair job of creating puzzle but fails to intergrate them into the setting. Placing coloured tiles into the correct patterns is ok but why exactly am I doing it? Visuals The initial outside area is nice, but the rooms section seem a little strange. As did the two buildings outside. Once inside things get a little more detailed and I don't remember noticing anything too weird. That said, the collection of rooms don't reeally flow into a believable setting but that's strongly connected with my comment about the mods intergrating into the setting. Gameplay Puzzles. You get to fight a few Combine Soldiers and Manhacks but that's it, the rest is puzzles. Layout/Design Making a pouzzle mod with puzzles that fit the setting is perhaps the hardest thing to do. Putting that aside the author give enough variety to have you wondering what it around the next corner or through the next door. I would have like some more outdoor sections but that's a personal preference, rather than a direct criticsm. Summary Whilst it's not the best mod you will play it's certainly better than a lot of the drivel released. Accept that there's little shooting and the puzzles don't make any sense and you may have fun. Look for something with meaning and you won't find it here.

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