Tunnels

it was fun and I liked the parts with the scientists, but I fell in a trash chute and was stuck and had to noclip out like midway through. the gameplay wasn't groundbreaking but it was pretty good, and the level design looked great.

Alright, here's some feedback:

In general:

• The brushwork and detailing is very, very nice indeed - maximalist, but not too crazy, and pretty consistent throughout.
• Good use of inaccessible areas, they really help achieve that classic Half-Life illusion where places seem like a part of a bigger world.
• Sequences are very well executed (that scientist with the gun startled me as much as I startled him, lol), and the use of sentences is spot on.
• Most of the map is pretty silent, could use some more ambient noises (especially in larger areas)
• There aren't many enemies or weapons - if it were an intro map in a campaign that would be fine, but since it's a single level it feels a bit lacking.

Specific issues I found:

• These types of light brushes are too solid-looking, a lower FX Amount (renderamt) value would make them more transparent.

• The pushable cart in the beginning can be used to climb past the crates blocking the corridor, but there is no way to get back from there.

• There's a null face in the room with the barney and scientist that is visible from the vent (if you look hard enough).

• The player can jump down this rusty shaft and get stuck.

• I'd recommend placing the crowbar around here instead of later, to encourage the player to break this window.

• This whole area down here is a bit too dark, the ladder is barely visible.

• A foolish player can wedge himself between the large elevator and the light on the wall, a clip brush is needed here.

Overall it's a very nice level. The ending's pretty abrupt, but that's to be expected from a single standalone map. I'd like to see it make a return as part of a larger campaign.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it a lot. But if you'll allow me to defend myself a little...

The rubbish chute was originally going to be the way out of the room but I changed it to the shootable window in order to shorten the map. I decided not to close the lid fully because I thought it looked pretty good hanging ajar like it is, I completely forgot that it's a passable func_detail.

There are supposed to be large and very noticeable cracked glass decals on the window telling the player to shoot it but that screenshot seems to suggest otherwise which is weird. I tried placing ammo nearby with the dead guard in the cafeteria to hint at it but I guess that was probably stupid because of the space of the room, the difficulty accessing it, the distance the ammo is from the window and the bullsquid.

It never occurred to me that you could use the cart to jump over the crates. The aim was to give the player something to do while entering the wall grate besides just walking into it, if that makes sense. Climbing over the crates is actually a better way to use it though I think.

Overall, this is an old map that I made when I had just started seriously making maps. I didn't think about idiot proofing the lights in the lift shaft and I thought the brush lights didn't look that bad. I also didn't think to change some things for players who don't have the same settings applied to the game as I do, obviously I prefer the default gamma and the HD models.