Hazard Course

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#1

There was a brief disscussion in another thread (I think it was ‘Black Mesa 2009 Update’) a while back about building a community-made hazard course; But the posts was deleted by a mod for being off-topic. I can’t actually remember who suggested this first though (I think it might have been Ibanez?).

At the time I posted some screenshots of an orange mapped section of the hazard course. I have suddenly found myself with some more time atm so firstly is anyone actually interested in this sort of project? And secondly here are the WIP screens I posted before (with some minor improvements that I have made this evening):

#2

That last shot looks badass.

#3

The biggest problem with recreating the Hazard Course is trying to redesign it so that it makes sense, and i’m afraid to say that your WIP shots just seem like you added trim and rounded some edges. Here are some examples of thing’s that are in the original that i feel would need to be changed:

[i]- An HEV suit floating in the middle of a platform when it should be suspended in its container.

  • The large emphasis on jumping. Given that people got sick of jumping puzzles by the end of the game i’m guessing the dev’s will have toned it down on that front so i think the Hazard course should follow suit.

  • The “Black Mesa Armoury” is just a few tables with ammunition spread out on them, and in addition, what is the reason for there being an armoury anyway? For this to make sense it would need to be made clear that wearers of the HEV suit would be involved in expeditions to alien and potentially hostile environments.

  • Lack of observation beyond the pipe-jumping section. The simple addition of camera’s would be an improvement, but i think more actual observation rooms would be better.

  • The “Press use to make the guard follow you” section.

  • Ridiculous end to the course.[/i]

Basically, in my opininion alot of stuff need’s to be fixed/removed to make the hazard course work, and this i think is why the dev’s chose not to create it, because it would have taken too much time and effort that could be spent working on the single player campaign. I do however, think it would be a great community project that, on the mod’s release, could be modified further by using model’s and textures from the mod itself.

#4

No.

#5

Seems like a good idea, but why not wait until the Mod’s assets have been released so you have something to work with?

#6

Cheers wheybags!

The map I have produced and shown was not a result of such a project, more the project was an extension of the map - hence it just being trim.

I completly agree that a lot of the hazard course was daft / not thought out, therefore if a group of us where to do this seriusly, obviously there would be many changes (however it never hurts to have a blueprint of the origional map).

@brokenfridgehinge
I agree, I’m kinda just testing the water with this one… maybe some good ideas would be generated too?

#7

Yeah, I just mean once it’s out you’ve got art assets to work with to keep the style consistent, but I’m sure it could be something great if our talented members came together and made it a collaborative effort, as long as it has structure and not one person in charge of all the mapping.

#8

I am still in 100% agreement with you brokenfridgehinge :smiley: ! The bulk of the work would have to be done when we can get at the BM assets. And like you say, there are some very talented mappers and artists on these forums!

For example, I’m fairly certain this was Ibanez’s idea originally, and his mapping is looking awesome!

#9

lol… I might stop making my version of it, I really don’t have the time and there are a few other people doing it.
Maybe you should all try out a collab project or something for it.

#10

Hazard Course should be one of the official community projects after the release.

#11

You didn’t read the last few posts did you…

#12

Apparently not, shouldn’t be writing stuff on the forum at this time of the day. I got to go to bed. :fffuuu:

#13

Perhabs with slightly adjusted weapons training (pistol only), because only the HECU had the mp5 with grenade launcher.

#14

I could see the “armory” being redone once again as a smaller room but instead of a bunch of tables, the guns are on racks/shelves under the close supervision of a nearby guard.

#15

Yeah, I reckon something similar to that, but behind a counter, and a guard hands you a gun, similar to Blue Shift when you are given the pistol from behind the counter.

#16

I support the bigfan’s idea.

#17

I also second the modification of the Hazard Course shooting range to use pistols.
After all, we really only want it back so we can play it, not so we can relearn how to jump, crouch jump, shoot secondary fire, ect.

And really, who in their right minds would give an Mp5 to people who have never used any weapons before?

#18

I think the only problem is that we would need voice recordings with good quality. Or maybe also a few new animations when the guard switches off the light for example.

#19

I have a feeling Catz has mentioned that she has done some recording for the hazard course before - maybe, if a few people where to embrance this project when the mod comes out, we can get hold of these recordings?

As for animations I am sure the BM team have produced animations for use in the game that would be appropriate.

BTW, I like the ideas for the shooting range guys!

#20

very nice! i was really shocked when i heard that BM devs wont be working on HC, it would be really cool if there where people who would like to recreate HC :slight_smile:

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.