Poll Question 059 - What is your favourite style of Half-Life series location?

Single Player First Person Shooter Half Life 1 and 2 Maps and Mods

Favourite Locations

Following last week’s question about favourite weapons I have decided to continue the theme. This time it’s locations.

Here’s this week’s question:

What is your favourite style of Half-Life series location?

Each To Their Own

As I said last week everybody enjoys different types of things. The great thing about HAlf-Life 2 is that the locations were very varied, especially when you consider that Half-Life 1 was really only two styles.

I know people generally like to vote and not comment but I believe it would be very useful for mappers and modders to hear exactly why we like or don’t like certain location styles.

Each one should offer a slightly (or greatly) different style of gameplay and emotions.

It’s my experience that modders often try to include too many locations, especially within the smaller mods. If a location has been planned well, and by planned I mean in the simple level design sense AND the flow sense, then most mods should stick with 2 or 3 styles.

So, please vote but also try and explain why you like the style of location you voted for.

The Poll

About this entry

Published:: 30th November 2007 at 7:16 pm

Category:: Poll Questions

Responses:: 10 Comments (add)

zeroth404 30th November 2007 at 20:24 1

what about the canyons? or the waste facility? hehe.
planetphillip 30th November 2007 at 20:36 2

planetphillip Said:

what about the canyons? or the waste facility? hehe.

I know there are other location styles but I decided to limit the choices. I generally prefer my polls questions to only have a few choices.
MMAN 1st December 2007 at 03:04 3

I think “Black Mesa” is way too broad a theme, as there many, many themes contained within. It would be like encompassing almost all of HL2’s themes under “City 17″.

I went with Citadel, as I think there’s still a lot of untapped potential there (I’ve already seen a couple of interesting interpretations of the theme), and you can get some really great Alien themes and architecture out of it.
Kasperg 1st December 2007 at 03:42 4

City17 without a doubt. There’s something about the realistic and logical qualities of an urban space transformed into something different that works very well in games and films. A city has the potential of offering different enviroments, a meeting point for different styles of architecture and design that still make sense once you put them together. They offer the possibility of eye candy and back stories that is harder to incorporate into for example the coastline enviroment. With themes such as Black Mesa, Xen or Citadel, you’re required to have a certain faith and think “yeah, I believe it could be like that…” but something inside you tells you it’s clearly artificial and impossible.
OW.Metrocop 1st December 2007 at 04:30 5

I definitely prefer a Ravenholm or Black Mesa ambient. Black Mesa marked me well enough to make me feel good on almost every mod that uses BM textures. After, Ravenholm because I really liked every mod out there that goes to the Ravenholm design, making me feel eerie, edgy and sometimes scared.
Berrie 1st December 2007 at 18:33 6

I voted C17.
The urban combat settings, the mix of tight quarters and open areas (buildings, alleys and parks, plazas) make it my favorite.
There is quite the potential for variety in areas is you give them a purpose (industrial area, residential area, old town, etc…) and then there are the insides of the buildings with equal potential.

A very close second would be Black Mesa. You have got to love a secret laboratory setting and by using an old missle base, you get a nice difference between old industrial and new high tech enviroments.
Matt Glanville (CrowbarSka) 1st December 2007 at 19:24 7

I voted coastline. I just love the feel of it. The sound of the wind battering against the dilapidated buildings, the evidence of conflict, the makeshift rebel constructs, the drastically low water levels… I love it!
Aniline 4th December 2007 at 10:48 8

I thought I would vote Black Mesa until I read the comments on here - they are all right! I don’t dislike any locations I just love change. The thrill of entering the next location and new challenges within familiar locations (different enemies, weapons, puzzles, architectures).

Some of the longer mods with single locations suffer from lack of inventiveness but it’s not a given, because HL1&2 have long arcs in one location and still entertain to the end.
planetphillip 7th December 2007 at 18:32 9

Well, I have just posted the new poll, so this one is unofficially finished.

I’m not surprised bu the fact that Balck Mesa got the most votes but the fact that the Citadel got so few.

Thanks to everyone who voted.
Anonymous 11th December 2007 at 21:43 10

Xen has my vote.