Gaming: Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Hammer

There will be No Half-Life 2 Deathmatch

Just before the 2004 holidays Valve released Half-Life 2 Death Match.

What was unusual about this move is that there was to be no Half-Life 2 Deathmatch.
Valve had stated for quite some time that Counterstrike: Source would be Half-Life 2’s multiplayer component. So why the about face? Who knows, but it most definitely changed my view on my HL2 purchase.

Half-Life 2 Deathmatch (HL2:DM) is what Counterstrike: Source (CS:S) should have been. Or at least should have been. CS:S is plagued with technical problems that detract from the overall game play. In HL2:DM the physics game play is superior in every way and hitting enemy targets simply works the way it should.

What separates HL2:DM from other multiplayer games on the market is the Gravity gun. The Source engine uses Havok 2 physics engine to great effect making the Gravity gun fun if not hilarious to use. In an age where games offer ever more expansive fire power, the Gravity gun lets you heave large objects to crush those gun wielding opponents.

For the most part game play is very balanced but there are only two official maps released to play on. That can wear out even the most ardent fan rather quickly.

Make Your Own Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Maps

With Half-Life 2 you get tools in the form of a Software Development Kit (SDK).

What this does it allows game players to design and build playable maps and levels the Source engine games. Valve supplies with the level editor called Hammer you need to download via a Steam which is Valves proprietary Internet delivery system.

Note my previous review of Steam. It is a necessary component of all Half-Life 2 content. If you are willing and able to deal with the technical requirements, more power to you.

So I took the opportunity to try my hand at level design for HL2:DM. I’ll note the Hammer layout is pretty basic and almost devoid of useful information. You are probably better served by visiting a variety of tutorial sites to get an understanding of all the modeling tools and functions. It will save you allot of time and frustration and in the end help you to create trouble free maps.

After a week and a half of tutorials and experimentation I was able to produce my first Beta map. After another week of tweaking I released my final map. It’s a map we play here regularl at the offices.