Monday, August 22, 2011

"The Evil Thing," by Nathan Ruck

Following PlanetPhillip's 100 Day's of Halflife Maps, an old Halflife map pack titled "The Evil Thing" appeared.  I remember this map pack very vaguely, but I remember that it was funny and the unique ending.  I remember it was one of the first custom maps I played for Halflife and I thought it was original and fun at the time.

I guess I must have played hundreds of Halflife maps that are basically set in the same setting (IE: desert, lab, etc...) and I just grew tired of the same thing because I found this mapset hasn't aged well.  The humor seems very "Beavis and Butthead"-like, the environment is pretty bland (lacks ambient sound effects; lots of silence), and even on easy mode I found myself with very little health left and having to fight rooms full of grunts that kill you with three bullets.

I just wanna post this here because it is one of the first Halflife maps I've played and it inspired me, at the time, to start learning VALVe Hammer editor.  Oddly enough, after mapping for years, I haven't released a single map to date.  On a related note, you should check out "Little Skyscraper of Horrors," and "Heart of Evil," two very good map packs, the latter being really long, and both by the author of "The Evil Thing."