Erik Kleint - Level-Design
HL2_CombineComplex
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General Information
On this page you will find details concerning the production of the level HL2_CombineComplex.
The video on the right shows a walkthrough of the level with audio comments, explaining some thoughts that went into it.
Below you'll find a more detailed insight into the process of the levels creation.
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On the bottom of the page is a chapter with additional sources like the download link for the level and an alternative walkthrough video.
Commented Walkthrough
General Description and Approach
Since HL2_CombineComplex is a freetime project, I was the only developer. This was my first bigger project built in Hammer.
In contrast to Sinphony of Hamelin or Anticipation I followed a different design approach this time.
My first step was to define the simple goals I wanted to achieve by building the Level:
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Make a Half Life 2 level
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Make a nice portfolio piece
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Get practice in level design and in working with Hammer
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Make the level nonlinear
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Level length: Medium (~10 min)
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Theme: Assassination / Uprising
Planning Gameplay Beats
Next I carved out more detailed and desired gameplay beats:
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Stealth (sneaking around guards, finding unconventional routes, ...)
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Infiltration (crouching through vents, using holes/windows in the roof)
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Start without a weapon
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Obtain crossbow inside the complex
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Trigger blackout and use flashlight
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Stealth until assassination, after that guards get alerted
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Fight your way out of the building after freeing detained resistance members
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Maybe use the rebels for distraction and get the target to move to his office.
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Planning Ressources
After specifiying different gameplay beats I started to gather level elements and components I would need to realize the level, like combine soldiers, resistance fighters, a target NPC, barriers that could be deactivated, crossbow, crowbar, gravity gun and breakable wooden boards.
Simultaneously I collected questions that arose, concerning the levels planning and realization:
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Does stealth work in Half Life 2?
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Possibilities for stealth kills? Is the crossbow silent?
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Scripting boundaries? Is a big choice regarding the rebels possible?
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How to get information to the player? Maybe work with environmental storytelling?
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What happens if stealth fails?
I did this to avoid encountering time consuming problems later down the production and resumed with testing and research to lower the risk of running into issues associated with these questions.
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Finshing Preplanning
My last step outside of Hammer was to order gameplay beats and ideas into a playable level sequence as follows:
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Player starts outside the Combine Complex
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Player looks for opportunities to enter the building
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Player discovers a blocked off entry and vents on the roof
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Finds crowbar outside the complex
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Can see into rooms from vents
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Discovers armory (maybe blocked off by force field) and prison cells.
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Gains control over armory
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Maybe follows Combine patrols to hall with target
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Enters maintanance area
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Finds gravity gun
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Takes out target
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Exits via vent or hallway
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Uses gravity gun to enter cellblock
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Frees rebels
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Big fight to the exit
Starting with the Basics
Before jumping into Hammer, I wrote down a quick narrative description of the level, concerning setting, the reason why Dr. Breen, the assassination target was there how the opportunity for the mission arose. I quickly came up with the idea of a public assassination, that would serve as a transition between stealth and action gameplay. I started Hammer and began setting up rough geometry. I decided to make the player cross a street to reach the goal. Later this served as an opportunity to incorporate environmental storytelling in a space the player would have to explore, to proceed through the level. I set up the building the player would start in, the street and the metropolice building. At first this building consisted only of the room where Dr. Breen would hold a speech for the metropolice.
Finishing the basic level geometry
Next I looked for ways to add the planned gameplay beats and sequence parts between the player start and the level goal and planned out the ground and the first floor of the building.
I first set up the path across the roof the player could use to enter the target building and enhanced the building by adding a surveillance room and a garage. I decided to work with a vent the player would need to use, to give the player a feeling for the building, to show them the position of the target and to emphasize the feeling of infiltration and advantage of information.
I had planned to fit the generator for triggering the blackout (gameplay beat), the armory and the cell block with the captured resistance members into the basement and had two ways to reach the basement (garage and surveillance room) by now. So I constructed a layout of the basement and realized it in the blockout. While I had planned two escape paths out of the builing, I only had one way into it and set up an additional way into the surveillance room via the sewers. With that the main level geometry was set up.
Making it a shooter level
Following up, I went over the level in multiple layers to flesh it out in different dimensions:
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Adding logic for doors and barriers to enable gating and lock-and-key situations.
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Setting up enemies in the first half of the level (the exploration and stealth part).
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Fleshing out the moment of assassination and the transition from stealth to action.
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Constructing an chaotic situation after eliminating Dr. Breen, with enemies kicking in doors and swarming the garage.
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Enabling the player to shut down the electricity and to free the detained rebels.
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Setting up a big shootout between the now arriving Combine forces and the rebels depending on the path the player takes to exit the cell block.
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Setting up lighting.
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Adding hint nodes for better AI orientation.
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Creating scenes with environmental storytelling and throughout the level.
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Going through a rough art and sound pass, adding some more clarity.
Things I like
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I was able, to incorporate a lot of my planned ideas into Combine Complex. Nonetheless did I dismiss some thoughts, like leaving the player the choice to free the resistance members.
- Working over multiple iterations helped the level to click together. I changed different parts of the level to support the levels narrative (frustrated Dr. Breen leaving his cover to put some spring into the metropolices steps).
- The level contains lots of smaller means to guide the player to where they need to go or what they need to do. These are quite subtle on the surface, but noticable when paying attention.
- I like the development of tension throughout the level. Starting a little stressed, while not being in serious danger, then leading to tense infiltration, raising thrill when executing Dr. Breen and going to open shootout with multiple combatants on both sides up to the end.
Things I don't like
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I think the biggest issue the level has is its scale. Almost all of the different areas would have benefitted from a larger space, especially the areas in which combat takes place. This would promote the resistance and enemy AI to work much better and would prefent the player from getting stuck of props or NPCs. This is a learning I would definitly transfer to future levels.
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The level still contains some bugs concerning the AI. Enemies sometimes bug out, or do questinable actions (like running up to each other and start punching instead of shooting).
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On some versions of Half Life 2 some sounds do not work and I have no idea whats the reason for that.
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I think the opening moment is too crowded. There's happening too much. Next time I would stretch out the events that take place to maybe observable from different windows in different rooms of the starting area.
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