Half Life 2 Level
"Get the Hell Out"
In "Get the Hell out of There", the player navigates a shipping yard to retrieve Gordon Freeman's gravity gun. Throughout the level, the player uses the shipping yard's controls to maneuver shipping containers in order to provide themselves cover, create platforming opportunities, and crush enemy combatants.
Design Goal
My main design goal for this level was to make the most of Half-Life 2's physics system by integrating puzzle-like elements into my combat.
By limiting the player's loadout, the level encourages the player to leverage the puzzle mechanics and have the shipping containers do the heavy lifting in combat.
Integrating Mechanics
For the level, I used Hammer++'s scripting tools to create two types of shipping containers for the player to use. First, I had shipping containers on set paths. Second, I had shipping containers hanging from the ceiling that could be cut down by throwing a sawblade with the gravity gun.
Post-Mortem Analysis
What Went Well
Combining my physics-based puzzle mechanic with combat was my main focus when making my level, so I was proud to see it come together so well. I believe I did HL2 justice by balancing my combat so that a player (if they’re skilled enough) could run-and-gun their way through my whole level, but would feel more accomplished and have an easier time completing the level by integrating the puzzles in combat to gain the upper hand.
What Went Poorly
Being new to Source, I designed my level with primarily the physical space in mind. This led to me designing the gameplay around the space rather than the other way around. Most of the rooms in the level each feel segmented and blocked off from each other which gives the transition between areas poor flow.
Even Better If...
I initially planned for the shipping containers that the player moves and cuts from the ceiling to all 1, have zombies inside and 2, have ladders attached to their sides (as opposed to the ladders being on nearby walls). With enough time, I could figure out how to accomplish these goals which I believe would make the level much more fun.