This is a research lab nestled precariously in the caldera of an active volcano. Above the close-study platform, enclosed in a cube of concrete, are three levels: storage, recreation, control. The only means of access for scientists travelling to and from the lab is the weekly helicopter drop to the helipad on the roof.
There are actually two variants of this level available. In addition to the full LavaLab, there is a post-disaster version, LavaLab: Erupt.
This map is neatly textured, and it has an interesting layout that flows between different floor levels, as well as an outside area. The prefabs are perfectly scaled and very detailed (some are better than the HL defaults), and sounds add to a great ambience.
Some large areas of the map could have been a bit more detailed, but it's possible they are not because of r_speeds control, which is good.
Some of the sofa textures from the "fifties" texture set didnt quite belong in the lab theme, but they were still nice.
There's quite a bit of nice architecture, but a few sections where it decends into right-angle-dom, which is a pity.
Good job.
Review:
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+ Layout. Lots of interesting places to go, those glass catwalks - all cool.
+ Gameplay. Good wpn placement, some secret areas with wpns.
+ Ambient sounds.
+ Texturing. Nothing special here, just that it looked ok.
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+/- Architecture. Looked good in some areas, but you used too much repeating prefabs and the cliffs were rather blocky.
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It's a good HLDM map, all it needs is a lil more work with architecture...
Nice readme.html pimpage btw!