Blue Paradise

Just amazing!

It ran perfectly on my computer, and I couldn't find any bugs with it, after a short playthrough.

I love the architecture, and the lighting (and those weird lamp things) The ambience wasn't too bad either.

The trees looked less transparent than they were supposed to, the textures themselves were surrounded by black, suggesting you had meant to render them as additive?

OMG its done!
Need to check this out in a few hours.

the map seemed pretty fun and original, and i liked the way you layed it out and added all those func_pushes and the teleporters too. 4.8 stars.

how do i play

Looks very good.
Overall great architecture, lighting and texturing. The textures look beautiful and fit the theme perfectly.

I liked how you made the elevators have healing abilities, and emit sound (I couldn't have found them otherwise). Dunno if it's a great idea of not having any other healing options, but since there are quite a few healing spots, it might be OK.
Ambience was OK. I liked the feeling and surroundings of the highest parts of the map the most. Could have done something more in the lower part.

Couldn't find any teleporters or funch_pushables that Skals mentioned, maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. Also I couldn't figure out how to get to the top levels of the map from the bottom, if it's even possible that is.
And if it is, it should be more obvious.

The only thing I didn't like about this map was that it's darker areas are almost pitch black, and navigating through them is a pain. (Unless that's what you're aiming for, I suggest you raise the minimum light level of your map).

Awesome everything. Just how I like it. 4.5 stars.

after the first 5 minutes, I was honestly feeling quite disappointed. The flow which existed in Utopium seemed lost in this equally surreal sequel.
It was around then that I found the secret garden and the Gauss gun. Wheeeeeee!

Having multiple destinations when you jump off the side is definately a huge improvement, and the teleporters in the map itself are seemless and pull off the effect I assume you were going for very well.

Architecturally, it's a lot more interesting and diverse than the original, although there is perhaps a bit of a lack of cover from above when you're down in the lower levels.

My main concern is that there aren't enough standard weapon pick-ups. Guns like the 9mmAR and shotgun should be far more numerous. (Shotgun won't be imbalanced because the map is so open.) Deathmatch is really dull when you're running around with a pistol competing with players who have had time to get better weaponry.

Overall, a worthy sequel, and quite likely to end up the first sequel to an existing motm to claim the prize again.

P.S - Is there a long jump module?

P.P.S - Spag clearly didn't spend enough time with it.

Huntey: The longjump is is on the opposite side of the hornet gun. The "secret" door on that side will also take you to a different area.
If you didn't find the rpg, either, there's two behind the the two edge towers. You can pick them up by jumping around the trims. You don't need the gauss to get anywhere special except the extra ammo stash at the very top of the map.

I'm not sure how I could place any more ARs and shotguns without getting spammy, though. The grassy floor has 2 shotguns, the level above it has 2 ARs and 2 357s, the level above that has 2 ARs, and the top level has 2 ARs and 1 shotgun. Unless you spawn on the side platforms, there's always either a shotgun or an AR fairly close by.
(seriously, tell me how I could. I can make some minor changes like that before the release on FPSB)

Well I spent like 10 minutes playing it. But at least I found the rpg.
Ah, finally found those teleporters. Never really reached that place on my first play. And kinda forgot about it.

Wow! this looks like a rimrook map to me (that's a big compliment in case you were wondering). I always love your layouts and how clean/smooth/rounded your brushwork is... it's always so pretty.. = )

++lighting looks nice and contrasty, just how i like maps.
++effects (transitions through those little doorways are soooo cool.)
+/-texturing is fine, but repeatative having the same one on all the toweres. Plus those neat jutting trims you have should be textured differently imo to make them stand out--you can't appreciate nice brushwork if it blends in and you can't see it!)
++your layouts are always so nicely complex and good
+/-ambience: the rushing sound is good but it needs more imo
++no fps lag at all for me for such a complex/big map.... great work!

Lets get this on the server and play!

I only ran through quick, but if we get it on a server i'll provide more comments, plus i see there is a lot more cools stuff in this map i didn't see on my run-through from the other comments... again, great work!

*****

Backing into those teleporters doesn't really work...

There's no way around that. Teleport destinations have to specify the player's orientation.

I managed to jump outside the area using a longjump module and the gauss gun. For some reason I got killed once I landed.

Great looking map, a little hard to get around but once you get used to it I'm sure it's fun to play.

Eek, I meant to clip off some of that so you couldn't pass it.
I'll fix it when I get back

"Backing into those teleporters doesn't really work..."
I just mention that cause the way I play, i could see myself backing into those teleporters often and getting stuck. But like you say, it's unavoidable.

Still, I had a run around the map. I prefer maps that are a little more linear, but if I let my preferences cloud my judgement, I wouldn't rate this map fairly.

In summary, very nice.

EDIT: I found it a little difficult to get out of the bottom area with the trees. Also, it feels like a map that should have a least a LITTLE lower gravity to me...

"fur911 says: ***
how do i play"
1. Place the .bsp file in your Half-life/Valve/maps directory
2. In the HL console, type map Blueparadise or whatever the bsp is called. Press enter. OR:
2. go into multiplayer, select the map from the map list.
3. Please do not rate maps you haven't played.

WC, I'm gonna try downloading this one more time. It looks good, but the ZIP is always corrupt.
EDIT: Nope, corrupt...Any Ideas why?

It's not corrupt. What program are you using? (I'm using 7-Zip which I can recommend.)

It's corrupt for me, the download finishes prematurely, which, on dialup, I can easily tell.
EDIT: size on disk: 40kb.
Not even the mighty 7-zip can open something that corrupt.

Probably because it's an incomplete file.
Try downloading it in a different browser.

I will if I ever get one.

This is my 100th map vault comment.

@JeffMOD:
Firefox | Chrome | Safari | Opera

I know about them, but downloading them on my connection is probably going to be a headache. Once again dialup gets in the way of progress.

Pray tell, is there still a TWHL HLDM server around? I'd love to try it.

Zombie, there's one coming!

Guess I never wrote a review on this one. AWESOME AMBIENCE! The lighting is so peaceful and the little globe lanterns are so calming and interesting. The layout is pretty interesting being roads floating different ways all around a tall vertical structure. The tubes that you jump up are interesting and have cool sounds in them. A really neat looking and cool map!

Architecture was well done, and quite unique.
Ambience and the enviroment (with the new sky) was neat.
Teleporting the player after they fall was also a nice idea, it provides some tactical gameplay. I really liked it.

However, map seemed almost same at every place. It was hard to get to know the map, was a bit confusing. And I can hardly see where the weapons are placed. Maybe some of those pink orbs can be placed on the weapons to make them more visible to players? When falling from some of the towers (anti-gravity tunnels) the descend is really slow. It's really a good idea but it might frustrate some players.

I also got stuck in an infinite loop with that dark fading tunnel you made with the teleporting when I tried to enter it backwards. So you cant face your chaser when you enter that one.

I think this could have been a great single-player map instead of DM. But the ideas used in the map convinces me to rate it 5. Good work.

This map would be perfect if the darkness wouldn't be so overwhelming.

I've found rpg, longjump and both secrets

It is also way too easy to avoid your enemy via hiding or constantly jumping out of the map.

4 stars.

played this map on a server recently...great !

Recovered the map from FPS Banana and added the file here.

UrbaNebula" said:Recovered the map from FPS Banana and added the file here.

For a moment there I thought Soup Miner was back.