Squad Romeo - Half-Life 2

The Fluffy The Hamster reviewing team is on the case! At the dawn of the tide, look up towards the northern star.

So if it stops there i will tell you my opinion. The way the text is showed on the screen is great and really create a good ambiance (this was really awesome done in someplace else)if you could a little increase the time message is spawned especially for non native speaker it would be a tiny plus. The map is average to below average (no outdoor) it’s just a kind of square room after square room (in form of hallways)even if the multifloor accesed by ladder was weel thaught. Design is basic (for hallways its normal) it misses certainly some trap especially according the scipting that goes wrong (if on screen message tells you ok it’s clean and suddenly telling ****… with a door behind you that open with enemies it’s way better. Now i know that it’s a kind of demo and in this way there are no flaws that’s why i like it well and really would like to see a sequel

Thanks for making it !

Wow… someone actually used an idea I came up with. The little note at the end of the readme is both informative and not too in-your-face.

planetphillip Said:

David Said:

Firba1 what idea did you come up with that I used?

I believe he was talking about his idea for adding the fact that the files was an FSO PP into the readme file.

Ah, haha, I couldn’t figure out what exactly he was referring to.

Dufferx, are you reffering to the part where Slosser sends you to Clear the Generator Room or further past that where he says to Split and Redezvous Upstairs?

Thanks
David

Number of Maps: 1

Score: 2 out of 5

Annoyance Rating: 12. Ladders do not allow for easy jumping off of.

Lighting: It’s there.

Architecture: Blocky and Boxy.

Textures: Decent.

New Models/Skins/Etc.: Guess.

Gameplay: Time for some well-oiled teamwork.

Story?: You, obviously not Gordon “The Blind Tazer” Freeman, has to invade private property and put the particle smackdown on rebel foes. You’re name, if you are willing to accept it, is Blivet “I’m an optical illusion.” MacAnomymousy. With your teammates, Slosser “I was assistant director for JAG, apparently” NULL and Crommie “I am the enemy of Democracy” McGeneric, you must shoot everyone who does not look like you. You go, squad Romeo!

Onwards:

….

Wow, i’v never seen that done with a Smurf before.

So. If you’re like me, then you are annoyed due to the lack of single-player releasants in Half-Life 2 these days. But through the piles of Cease and Desist letters, I spied apon the newest gem on the market. Squad Romeo. I tell you right now, stultior populus, that it ain’t bad. It just isn’t good, either.

Gameplay is as such. You are of the assimilated kind, obviously given more then a T-shirt. You are in a no-windowed building with two other white people. With them, you must chargeth into the area, slaughtereth the enemy foes, conduct rape on their women, pillage their valuables and exit via the appropriate elevator. But what’s the catch?! You may or may not asking. These combine are tricky people: They’ll slide into place in an attempt at scripted squadwork. Your teammates will crouch beside walls and beckon you to go ahead. Though this doesn’t do much for practically, considering Stormtroopers have a better aim then the combine, it (apparently) increases the feel of being in a squad. This is the purpose of the map and it does this well enough.

But what about everything else? Mediocre. ****, in some places. The texturing is decent, the architecture is only really just boxes and tunnels and the lighting isn’t anything to be wowed at either. That being said, the architecture didn’t provoke me to stab my eyes out with an alcohol-doused protractor (Engage the Zombies… Engage the Combine…. Fall…) and the lighting made the lack of sophisticated architecture a lack more bearable. But! Is there a catch? Yeah. It’s short. It’s shorter then unborn baby short. It’s shorter then the collective IQ of Kansas short. Only Fall can out-short this.

Summary: It is, once again, 50% ****. It does, however, put forward a concept that few people have tried. Thus, this should be considered a demonstration of concept, but not much else.

Copyright:
This review was written by Fluffy The Hamster and has been published
directly to PlanetPhillip by the reviewer. Doesn’t it just make you want to dance?

One thing I did not mention was the dialogue. You didn’t sound a *hint* like a faceless, emotionless force.

Just played this map…

At first I was really put off by the screenshots because the level design is pretty bland. Particularly in the initial tunnels, the walls could have done with an actual wall texture to make them more detailed and interesting. The lab didn’t really look like a lab, more like a garage with some kid’s second-hand equipment being used for dodgy experiments.

But the gameplay was what kept me playing. It’s just a bit different to most other maps/mods I’ve seen so far and feels more fun than just gunning down Combine or zombies. It was certainly way ahead of Combine Destiny.

A suggestion for the next part: give your squad mates different coloured text. When you’re playing and reading at the same time it can get a bit confusing, especially when your squad mates look 100% identical.

And yes, there definitely should have been a message telling you the level had ended. I was frantically pressing the buttons, hitting the door, smashing the square in the corner of the ceiling, even noclipping outside to see if the lift actually went anywhere.

Despite all the negative criticism, it’s pretty nice considering it’s one of your early maps. I look forward to improvements in the sequel.

David Said:

planetphillip Said:

Said:

Firba1 what idea did you come up with that I used?

I believe he was talking about his idea for adding the fact that the files was an FSO PP into the readme file.

Ah, haha, I couldn’t figure out what exactly he was referring to.

Dufferx, are you reffering to the part where Slosser sends you to Clear the Generator Room or further past that where he says to Split and Redezvous Upstairs?

Thanks
David

Split and randy voo.

I’m flattered that ya’ll are looking forward to a new map. And I thank all of you for playing my map! I feel like a Rock Star to have something of mine reviewed by others. The reviews and feedback from this map has been extremely helpful. I realize that my Architecture is, well, ****; however this has made me realize that it is something I cannot fix. My brain just doesn’t understand architecture and for that reason I can’t seem to create architecture that is interesting, intriguing or fun to play (thank god I’m a language major and not an architect. :P)

I have a solution though. I have been fortunate enough to travel to several places in my past (Living in NY now, not far from Manhattan. Visited Montreal, Tokyo, Kyoto and Seoul. I also was lucky enough to live in Kanazawa for about a half a year.) I will use my experiences and memories of the architecture of these places and work them into my maps. This is something I should have done from the beginning.
I’m also trying to find some info on a few places I want to visit and will try to incorporate them into my maps as well (for example, the Silmido Island just outside of Incheon, Korea).

Having said that, the next map will be quite a while since I am essentially starting over and now focusing much more on fixing the things that went tits up in this map. I assure though, another map will be coming out!

Now, just to find a good starting place and a good story to accompany it…

Yeah, and get some expert to judge your squad movements and do the dialogue. Then Fluffy The Dialogue ***** here won’t be so annoyed.

I just played with this map and liked it

David, will you make a sequel for this map? Or making maps and put them into mod?