Comments - SordidSpectacle

Hey I'm trying to compile a custom map for Coterminus but it doesn't seem to really do anything. I've gotten a lot of compile errors in the past but never before has it seemed to not know what to do or say. Here's the compiler log:

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Running command: copy "C:\Users\colin_\OneDrive\Documents\BSPSource\My Coterminus Maps\d2_prison_02_d_sordid.bsp" "\d2_prison_02_d_sordid.bsp"
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Running command: cd ""
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Finished. Press a key to close.

And then no .BSP is created at all.

Whoops, I wasn't signed in.

Couple of non-pressing questions for CVox and the All-Stars.

Where does Alyx fit into your story?

Are we going to see stalker combat? That'd be neato burrito.

Oh, oh, and synth soldiers! Damn, should have asked that first.

And one more thing: child slaves? y/n

I don't know dude, like, if you're going to add a bunch of weapons then make them ALL be worthy additions. Guns like the M4 and MP5 aren't really that interesting in the grand scheme of things, even compared to the base game weapons. If you've got things like the Immolator and the Combine Guard gun to compete with, then put in weapons that can actually compete with them instead of spending valuable time and energy making Half-Life and Call of Duty **** each other gently. You guys obviously have talent, and this mod has a lot of potential! so cut the vanilla **** and give us the GOODS

So how do you install the thing?

Oh my god the elevator is a tram

EDIT5: The Kleiner's lab scene really needs to be shortened. I understand that would require more custom voicework and you may already be planning it. That being said, it's too long and too boring. There's a reason why they cut so much of that dialogue for the Retail release. So much of what Kleiner and Barney say during this sequence was only referenced or hinted at in the Retail, and that's ok. I get RtBR's playerbase will mostly be made of Half-Life nerds parched for lore and infatuated with the Beta(like me), but you have to admit that Kleiner showing you how to use a charging station for fifteen minutes can be omitted entirely, as can the "diet or regular" joke. It was in the release game.
The references to Eli Maxwell's den can be toned down to just that: references. Just hints about the guy, just the gist of the escape route, and for god's sake Elena Mossman needs to just shut up. I get it, you betray the resistance. Ahhh! Wow. Stop talking now.
Again, I know you're just working with what voicelines you have from the original sequence. Just please tighten it up in some future iteration of this chapter.

First off, have to say you guys did an amazing job recreating this section of the beta storyline. The new weapons, redesigned HEV suit, charging stations, pickups, everything. Fantastic! Not to mention a beautiful, working, walking combine supersoldier! I could go on and on about the amazing redesigns but for brevity's sake, I won't.

Trainstation was the part I gushed over the most, I think. You managed to make it look just like the concepts and yet still be believable and I cannot thank you enough for that. There were some issues with the pacing though, especially regarding the civil protection and how the player is introduced to their brutality.

In retail Half-Life 2, the first hint of it is a cop pushing some dude over luggage, and then we pick up a can. We only see them arresting people and carrying guns once we get outside, and by that time we've already met Barney and have some idea where we're going. The apartment raid is the first time we see them 1)actually killing people, and 2)attacking the player. As soon as they start the killing, they try to kill you as well, and you're given a set of rooftops to run from them over in more or less a straight line.

In your version, the first hint of Metrocop brutality is them LITERALLY SHOOTING A WOMAN, for what, pushing him? I think? I've played it twice now and I still don't know exactly why he kills her. My point is, it's too much too fast. If you want to include that scene, you should put it in later and make it more clear how she provokes the cop, otherwise have him beat her with his stunstick if you want to keep it where it is. Or maybe even just threaten her with it like they do to the player. My point is, you need to build up the violence slowly and more methodically. Consider what it is you're showing the player and how they might react to it. For example, at one point the player finds themselves in a narrow street, and sees a citizen throwing what I assume was a molotov cocktail at a combine barricade, causing a nearby cop to shoot him AND the guy next to him, who didn't even seem to be involved. When I saw this, I thought they were going to shoot me as well, and when they didn't I was surprised.
Next, we see a little courtyard road place full of police and one cremator, next thing we know some dude starts blasting them with an MP7 from his window. I thought, "Ok, this is it. THIS is the point where they start trying to kill me", and I tried to sneak around them, only to find to my surprise that again they weren't shooting at me. I thought they would shoot me just for being a witness to the event! These places of confusion in the opening sequence stop the pacing dead in its tracks, and that's why the retail version of this section works so well. Brutal fascist police act how we would expect them to towards the player. They shoot first, ask questions never.

Personally, I love these scenes of violence that you've created. They show us how this City 17 is different from the one we know, and that it's darker, grittier, and bloodier. You just need to incorporate them in a way that doesn't confuse the player on how they should react. If the police start shooting, you should probably get out of there quick before they shoot you too.

Thank you again if you've read this far, I hope this criticism has been constructive and well-received. I'm looking so forward to whatever comes next, and hope that you are proud of what you've created. You should be.

EDIT: Also, why is the gravel ice?

EDIT2: How come there are sooo many bombed out cars, especially in the area around and in front of the manhack arcade, one of the nicer places in City 17. Plus, the combine have cremators, which get rid of pests and trash. Why can't they move some cars?

EDIT3: Just out of curiosity about the Under section and parts of the Manhack Arcade, what was all that stuff? What function did it serve? Are those sewers? Did we make it behind the inner city wall? I thought we were supposed to be getting out of City 17, but the whole time it looked like we were getting CLOSER to the citadel. Boy them Under parts sure are creepy.

EDIT4: In the first section, after we've met up with Barney but before Kleiner's lab, when we are supposed to be worming our way through the hidden bits of the industrial sector, there is a room. Nay, a chamber. This chamber is large and concrete, and it has many pipes. It appeared to me to be a pit into the void. On both my playthroughs I was simultaneously transfixed by and utterly unnerved by this room. Perhaps it's the lighting, which makes dark shadows of the tubes and a gradient into the black. Either way, I just wanted to ask:

What's the deal with the Void Pit?

I wouldn't want spoilers!

Doesn't Eli Maxwell send you to the Antlion Caves after the level in his hideout?

LOVE the whale bones