Strider Mountain release

Ennui · Sep 14, 2009

Strider Mountain, a singleplayer HL2-universe mod, was just released:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/strider-mountain/news/strider-mountain-is-released

It doesn't look very promising (which is exactly what I said seeing their first news a year or two ago) but I figured I'd post it and see if anyone's checked it out.

In other words, the purpose of this thread is to find out what Barnz thinks of this mod, which once acquired can be used to judge whether or not I should waste 300mb of space on my HD for it.

Vegeta897 · Sep 14, 2009

Bluewolf take note this is how you make a thread about a mod.

Not this:

Strider Mountain = epic release

The makers of Coastline to Atmosphere & Hypercube:Source have teamed up to develop a new Half life 2 single player modification called STRIDERMOUNTAIN. The mod team will feature new textures, introduce new models and present stunning indoor & outdoor maps...

Media: http://www.stridermountain.com/screens.html

Notice how Ennui gives his personal assessment of the mod, and doesn't just copy paste the description from the site.

Adabiviak · Sep 14, 2009

The trailer makes it look like a fun game to me. Barnz, are you gonna sniff this out and let us know what's up? It looks like they put a fair amount of detail into the maps.

Barnz · Sep 14, 2009

Cool, I'm gonna download it.

MorganFreeman911 · Sep 14, 2009

Looks alright, I'll download it when I get home from school.
Also, I agree with Vegeta.

Barnz · Sep 15, 2009

Stay away from this mod, it took my entire day to beat it yesterday (and two hours to make this post).

pros:
. soundscapes/music
. some good ideas
. nice visuals (don't let them fool you)

cons:
. it's too long for its own good (twenty chapters)
. boring/repeative
. no puzzles/keycard puzzles
. annoying cutscenes/story
. annoying vents
. doom 3 textures (and possibly other content from retail titles)
. dark levels/bad lighting
. levels have narrow/small rooms, this makes NPCs harder to move (or not move at all), they simply wait for you to kill them
. it's hard - i died a lot (but not hard as Slums)

misc:
. if you're stuck, and nowhere to go, search for a vent access. it works every time.
. nonstop respawning enemies - i think i killed more than 5000 combine soldiers during my play
. striders are synths, not machines
. gameplay:
......... kill a room full of combine soldiers
......... find a keycard/open the door/some annoying puzzle
......... kill more (respawning) soldiers
......... download portal data (annoying cutscene)
......... kill more (respawning) soldiers
......... vent scene/secret button/cutscene
......... kill more (respawning) soldiers
......... get back to where you started
......... level change
. apache rotor sound used for a fan, what?
. i hate vents
. it's not good as Leon's previous work, which are:
......... From Coastline to Atmosphere
......... Leon Half-Life 2 Pack 1

final note: 4/10, or 3/10 - like Slums, it's one of the good/average, but annoying mods out there.

Here're some screens (in 400x300 res):

Gordon, what are you doing? You're not a commando!

Ice axe replaces good, old crowbar.

Headcrab Mountain

Only good/remarkable puzzle in this mod

More headcrabs!

No, please! I'm too young for keycard puzzles!

Gordon's final opinion on this mod:

Our old friend Barney is captured, and killed.

My new car (on a narrow road, where you can't drive for shit).

Gordon is bored (so am I)

Combine soldiers!

Here comes respawning soldiers!

Again, a narrow road.

I'm on the top of the world, looking at a boring level.

Bridge (is about to be destroyed).

Firefight on a train.

Once again Gordon destroys something.

No, it's not Jesus reborn.

More screenshots (direct links, they're not image tagged)

Ennui · Sep 15, 2009

:cheers:
Excellent. Confirmed my fears.

TB Biggs · Sep 16, 2009

Sorry you guys didn't seem to like Strider Mountain. Hey, you can't please everyone right.
Thanks for trying it out Barnz.

Barnz · Sep 16, 2009

I actually liked it (I enjoyed your previous work like I stated in my review) I read your post on ModDB, and I agree with you somewhat. I mean what you've tried to create is a fun/mindless shooter (like Doom, or maybe FarCry). I'd rate it 6/10 (or 7/10), if i I'd review it this way. There're still some elements make game harder to play/not fun.

. SMG is completely useless. You can't kill anyone with it.
. You should have removed some levels. Twenty chapters wasn't really needed. They repeat themselves.
. Narrow/small corridors (soldiers can barely move). See the guide I linked below my post:
. I like killing soldiers, but it's not fun to fight them when they're strong in SM. You should make some changes in "skill.cfg". Maybe get back to original, eh?
. Sometimes it's hard to find buttons, etc. Maybe you should put some hints/sprites on buttons to help players.
. Dark levels are fun, when done right. Players don't like when they get shot by something they can't see, so please add some lights!

Like i said, it's really "some small things" make me not want to play it. Take your time, and make necessary changes to make it better. It's not a bad mod, gameplay is just boring/repeative. Again, I'm sorry being for negative.

* http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dimensions

TB Biggs · Sep 16, 2009

Barnz, your review is professionally done and really doesn't require an apology, although we do appreciate it.
As a mod developer, you know you cannot possibly please everyone. What's difficult is when someone just says "oh, your mod is terrible" and don't say the reasons behind it. This lack of constructive criticism doesn't help anything.
You took the time to post a lengthy review with comments and even screens. Even though it's not necessarily in our favor, it has some merit and good constructive criticism. For that we cannot fault you but rather say "thanks" for putting the effort into it for both the SM team and the community.
We are planning our next project (non-HL2). Hopefully, in time, the next one will really please you.
- TB

Strider Mountain release

Ennui

The Freeman

Vegeta897

Banned as all ****

Adabiviak

Space Core

Barnz

Retired Content Creator

MorganFreeman911

Tank

Barnz

Retired Content Creator

Ennui

The Freeman

TB Biggs

Newbie

Barnz

Retired Content Creator

TB Biggs

Newbie

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