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49 ratings
A Walk in the Dark
Description Discussions0 Comments17 Change Notes
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Addon Type: Maps
Game Content: Asset Packs, Prefabs, NPCs, Weapons, Models, Textures, Sounds, Particles, Scripts & AI
Gameplay Genre: HL:A Campaign-like, Action, Puzzle
Environment Types: Urban, Combine Structures, Industrial
Theme: Valve Games, Horror, Sci-fi
Enemy & NPC Types: Combine Soldiers, Headcrabs, Zombies
Length: Long (an hour)
Difficulty: Hardcore
Tags: Alyx Addon
File Size
Posted
Updated
706.871 MB
29 Nov, 2024 @ 10:09pm
30 Nov, 2024 @ 10:18am
2 Change Notes ( view )
Created by
ImperialR3D
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A Walk in the Dark

Description
A Walk in the Dark

A journey through a city with its power cut. Brave the darkness to discover the source of the outage, and restore light to this corner of the quarantine zone.

What Why Where?

I made this map for an assignment for my game design and development degree. The requirements were to create an FPS level that uses environmental cues to tell the story, including at least 2 vignettes.

The story behind this map is that you are a scavenger living in the quarantine zone when the power to your area goes out. Seeing strange lights and hearing commotion at the nearby substation you decide to investigate.

For now, the player simply starts in an alleyway, but if I get some more time to work on this I might make an intro sequence where you start in your hideout and watch the city lights blink out.

SPOILERS:
Once the player gets to the other side of the train platform, there are two paths to complete the level. The player can either go to the end of the platform and up the stairs to get in through the warehouse's front door or solve a combine door puzzle to get in through the side. If the player goes through the door puzzle they get access to lots of grenades and ammo, and they enter the warehouse encounter on the high ground, giving them the advantage over the combine in there.

Tips & notes (in case you get stuck or want to know more):
  • Dont go in between the train cars, I forgot to block those areas off, but they aren’t part of the level
  • Both the battery and the brain jar needed to solve the combine console puzzle in the substation can be found inside the warehouse. The battery is in the middle section of the warehouse, and the jar is on top of the large shipping crate at the entrance. The player can climb boxes to get up or use the ladder.
  • If the player lets the zombie in the traincars go without shooting it, it will walk onto the platform and fight the combine soldiers.
  • In order to finish the level you need to turn the power on. After finishing both wiring puzzles at the substation, the player will need to pull the frankenswitch in the next compartment to activate the power. You’ll know that it’s done because all of the surrounding lights come on, including the ones on the neighboring buildings and the warehouse. Once the power is on, the final combine encounter will begin once the player steps back into the warehouse.
  • The door to the end of the level is in the side of the warehouse, it will open once all of the combine in the final encounter are dead.




17 Comments
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hydrae3c273 18 Jan @ 12:55pm 
I liked it, great job. Thank you very much.
collindrennen 8 Jan @ 6:57am 
- The lack of an auto-save was annoying. An easy problem to get around.

- The final battle was a nice highlight. Along with the serpentine approach of the enemy, it was fun trying to see who you could take down by shooting/throwing grenades through the shelves.
As the enemies got closer, and my health was getting lower, ratcheted up the tension in the right way.

Strange how the Zelda-type elements (exploring, puzzles) are what stay in my memory more than anything else. Thank you for the opportunity to play this.
collindrennen 8 Jan @ 6:57am 
- Where this level shined (for myself) is in the exploration for ammo/resin, and the longer, drawn out puzzles. I enjoyed the multi-stage process for getting the lights back on (and at one stage, forgot about having to flip the switch), which had quite the satisfying feeling when I finally figured it out.
I was annoyed at the beginning of the level when I thought I had run out of ammo, but soon discovered how much was lying around, if I slowed down and took a look.
Sometimes I thought too much ammo was lying around, as once I got used to the idea of exploring, scarcity of ammo was never a concern (even at the final battle).
By comparison, the health was spread out nicely. At the end of the final battle, literally one more hit by an enemy would have killed me. Now there was some real tension.
collindrennen 8 Jan @ 6:57am 
Played on a i9-13k, 32GB RAM, RTX4090 with a Valve Index (120Hz refresh rate). Observations are as follows:

- An 'in-the-dark' motif provides a 'what is there in the darkness?' aura, and enhances the atmosphere greatly. The only reason I did not enjoy it more is because of the amount of 'dark levels' I have played over time, and am seeking something new.
Specifically, if it were possible for the flashlight to have intermittent operation (e.g., it works for one minute, go out for 45 seconds), this would introduce a different dynamic of 'feeling your way around'/'do I recall the environment well to move around without light', and start to fear the darkness again (or where older offerings would sometimes provide sparsely placed torches).
Redronapt 31 Dec, 2024 @ 4:38pm 
loved the map and the environment you had built
Glockstr 5 Dec, 2024 @ 11:50am 
Great job, I really enjoyed everything about the mod... hope you continue to create these creative and enjoyable mods... Do you have any more???
Jeralikin 3 Dec, 2024 @ 2:31pm 
I really enjoyed the environments and lighting in this map. However, I felt that the last combat encounter in the warehouse was far more difficult than the rest of the combat encounters in the level. I would've preferred if the entire map was equally as difficult as the fight in the warehouse which was incredibly well designed.
ImperialR3D  [author] 3 Dec, 2024 @ 12:28pm 
I had to record a playthrough and write a detailed account of the process lol. The professor doesn't have the game himself and wouldn't have the time to analyze everyone's editor files even if he did. Documenting your thought process and proving you implemented the principals you learned in class is more important than the design of the level itself.
Hypernukeleosis 3 Dec, 2024 @ 8:01am 
I'm always amazed when people build a level in HLA for a game development degree. Did you have to record the level and go through it yourself, or does your professor just look at the level design source in the editor and such?
TeamSpen210 2 Dec, 2024 @ 3:12pm 
Really excellent map, lots of nice resin hiding places and good combat. Only one thing that detracted was that just past the front entrance to the warehouse, there's a red tarp which is opaque, but nonsolid. So I naturally tried taking cover, but was promptly shot by enemies I can't see. Would be good to add a clip there.