Ok makes sense, I added music to my level but I don't know how to override the level music and i'm trying to figure out how to spawn enemies after you defeat or reach a goal. Trying to polish my level I made years ago.

The music is my own recordings - a combination of synths and my own voice. I didn't know how to code back then or how the music system worked but a friend created a hotspot for me that muted level music, and I then played the music using a hotspot that was meant for essentially ambient background noise. So it's supposed to be for birds chirping, distant rocks falling etc etc - I used it for music instead. These days it's much easier to just add a Drika Hotspot and add a Play Music function. Actually for most vanilla functions its easier to use Drikas Hotspot instead in general.

How did you add the custom music?

Actually I never played Half Life 2 - I've had ppl say that it looks like a couple of different game levels. Just a coincidence I guess. I remember the original idea was just to have a central tower in the middle of a frozen lake, but when I blocked it out it just looked really boring, so I came up with the idea of the chains and surrounding towers to fill out the scene and it worked out really well. I have a remake of this mod in progress (very slow progress) and I think when I get to the tower level I want to make more routes an option - a few different routes up the chains, the classic central route (hardest), and a more combat oriented route for those who don't like parkour. The most common feedback I get from this mod (aside from a bug I can't seem to fix) is that people either love the difficulty of the final climb, or hate it so much it ruins the whole experience for them. So I'd like to create an option for those people who aren't as good at parkour.

Is this a half life 2 reference?

Dammn this was such a good mod but the very end is glitched out so I'll never see how it ends

i got to the end but still got the bug that made the tower not spawn
the climb was a p nice challenge though
luckily i was able to see the dialogue i missed while messing around in the editor and got the epilogue by cheating a little
overall p neat mod

God i hate the final climb so damn much.

chimeney park is unplayable. this isnt mario, the game isnt built to compensate. taking advantage of flawed physics engine to make a pseudo-challenge based on imprecise mechanics is bs, maybe there's a reason the devs didnt include a section like that in the base campaign. was enjoying it up till that point but im not toiling for an hour on a dumb level design decision.

i want to personally hate you for the double no-checkpoint chimney section, good map

Can confirm the mod still works as of 12/2023
However, at the top of the tower the floor doesn't spawn
Therefore the mod as a whole is unfortunately unbeatable

Ah damn, thought I had found something new haha. Oh well, still a really fun mod!

Fantastic detective work, especially considering you are not a modder! Unfortunately I am aware of this being the cause, the problem lies with how I'm triggering that invisible tower to spawn in. Back when I created this mod I was using no external mods, including DHS (a visual scripting mod that is used in most mods nowadays). So I was relying on the game's systems but using them in a rather unorthodox way, which apparently causes issues with a lot of ppl's systems.

I really appreciate you going to all that work. It's fantastic to see ppl still enjoying this mod 4 years later!

I believe I know what causes the bug. It seems to result from the invisible hexagonal structure above the regularly visible one not spawning in at the proper time. This leads to the player falling into the zone that starts the "falling" cutscene and immediately kicks them off the pillar.

More info here: https://imgur.com/a/LiA50fV

well even w the bug it was one of my fav maps, wish I could help fix it!

This is such a frustrating bug. Because I can't reproduce it on my end I'm forced to guess at the cause. I might have to look at just scripting the whole ending as every other thing I've tried hasn't fixed the bug. I could fix it easily with Drika's Hotspot but I don't want to add a dependency.

Sad I cant finish this map, same problem as mentioned below. I was really really enjoying it!

The same thing as Abowden69 is happening to me. When I get to the top, the cutscene starts then spawns me in the middle of the sky and fall to my death

I found a solution for those who are like me and still stuck on the chimney lol
If you go into the game settings and set the game speed to the lowest, you'll be able to climb in slow-motion which makes this a billion times easier lmfao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPaIYeWwSPs
Playthrough of the Tower starts at around 54:00 ish

I agree that the chimneys are awful btw, worst part of the mod easily. too long and no checkpoint in between. Other than that and the borked ending, no complaints!

I got to the end... and then I was spawned off the edge of the tower and fell to my death. fml. I managed to repeat it, but every time the cutscene dialog plays it spawn me, and everyone else off the edge of the tower, it's a shame because I really wanted to see the ending! Did anyone record it and upload it to youtube? Because I really want to see it :(

Ok, I'll take a look. I don't see the harm in adding an extra checkpoint.

I understand. I'm glad to see some part of the community is still active, thank you for the quick response. I actually agree that the best Overgrowth maps are the most challenging ones but I don't think this bit of parkour is any fun to do. I personally think only making the chimney shorter would work as it would still take a couple of tries to get good at wall jumping. I just think the sheer height of the chimney is ruins it as you have to keep a near perfect rhythm for way too long which makes it all the more frustrating when you slip up just once and have to restart. I've been trying for hours and I've only managed to pull it off once then failed immediately at the second chimney and fell down and died. And so you can imagine my horror when I saw I had to do the first one again. Maybe if you're gonna change anything rn, just add a checkpoint on top of the first chimney?

The problem with creating parkour is that by creating a parkour map and testing it over and over you naturally get really, really good at it (since you made it). This makes it difficult to gauge difficulty, and it's the reason player feedback like this is so valuable.

I have gotten that feedback before - the trouble is that there is also a large number of people who really enjoy the fact that this mod is so difficult. This was...I think the second mod I ever made. After this amount of time I don't think I want to change anything, but when I someday remake this I think I will add alternate routes or balance it in some way. I really appreciate your feedback! It's rare to get comments these days.

I'm sorry but the wall jumping part of the tower parkour is an atrocity and is unfairly difficult. Just an absolute chore to get through. Which is a shame cuz everything else about the mod is great but this single passage completely ruins it since it brings an abrupt halt to any fun and progress.

yea i just realised it does look a lot like the half life 2 citadel

I've heard other people mention half life as well. I unfortunately never got the chance to play it but I'm glad this map brings back memories, even if it is just a coincidence!

bro made the god damn citadel from half life

thx!

i have to be honest this mod has been a 10/10 the tower was brutal but you can complete hands down im inpressed

Yeah so the bug keeps happening for me, i dont know why it appears but even tho i restart my game, the mission etc. I keep falling to my death and cant do anything about it

Hey thanks! The Tower actually does have a developed universe and lore, and a couple of WIP mods in various stages of development. I'm currently working on a different, much larger project that takes up most of my time with Overgrowth, but I definitely want to return to The Tower universe in the future. I've gained a lot of experience since I made that mod and there is a lot more of that world I'd like to show to the players.

this one! This deserves an official/extended release like Drika had! GG man! You and Halzoid deserve more credit.

Not sure why he didn't move...weird. Anyway, glad it worked out for you!

Bulldog didn't move in my case, I had to move him behind the red block (in which case he died) for it to work.

ok

I just tested it, it works fine for me. If you want to test it yourself, play the map, go into debug mode (press F1 and then 8) and press K nine times. That will advance the checkpoints to the fight. Then press L to restart the game and you will be at the top of the tower.

Instead of fighting however, go into editor mode and travel to a far corner of the map. You'll know which corner it is because there is a building made out of cubes there, tucked into the mountain. Go into that building and you should see a bulldog very very slowly inching towards a red cube, over that cube is a kill hotspot, and when the bulldog hits it he dies. (Back then I didn't have better ways of creating a timer, so that's the best I could come up with).

If the bulldog isn't moving at all, there's a problem, and if he hits the hotspot and doesn't die that's a problem. If both of these things are working, then the fight should end when that bulldog dies.

Let me check the map, maybe there is a bug.

man, i played for like 15 minutes fighting off those guys and nothing happend

I forget the exact time (it's been a while since I made this map) but I think it's 2 minutes, maybe three at most.

how long does that take?

You don't beat em. Just hold them off for a couple of minutes. The fight is specifically designed to be unwinnable, it's about surviving until Sparrow can accomplish her mission.

How do you beat the enemies at the top? They just keep respawning for me..

is it just me or does this look like the citadel from hl2?
"Dr.Breen again? i thought i had seen the last of him in city 14."

Climbing up that tower was the most challegning thing in Overgrowth I have ever experienced since first fighting wolf 4/5.

Wow! Well that was very encouraging to hear! I really appreciate the awesome feedback, it's rare to get feedback at all as a modder and even rarer to to get detailed feedback like that, so I appreciate you takin the time to review my little mod!

My review of The Tower mod (5 of 5)

Your answers to these were always "keep pushing, you are almost there". Since you are a good designer, you know these are possible, the solution is only to keep playing.

Out of all the mods, this was the one I had the most fun with. I was enchanted.

Congratulations, if there ever was an Overgrowth 2 I need you in the board of directors, you really have a grasp on what is fun design.

Thank You

My review of The Tower mod (4 of 5)

I'm seeing a lot of complains in this thread about how hard it was, either because it was not telegraphed enough or because there were scenarios that they have never seen before (climbing on ice)

I would wave these off, since there is a level of challenge beyond the Overgrowth story

You bothered to put kill planes and checkpoints to indicate the player where not to go or making the return to the checkpoint quicker to analyze the platforming options. This gives the chance of more trial and error, but not dragging enough to be luck based, but skill based since at one point your options reduce to a point where the player goes "Ah so close", marking that it is on the right track, now it only has to worry about execution.

Or the chimney wall jumps, its a camera issue, just hold the camera at different diagonal angles and its piece of cake and ever so satisfying.