Ever wanted to see what Half-Life 2's levels look like stitched together as one, continuous path? Noclip.website creator Jasper has you covered, using the web-based map viewer to put together a full picture of City 17.
Not to be confused with the documentary series, Noclip is a nifty site that lets you load up levels from the likes of Dark Souls, GTA III, Psychonauts and more to explore how they're put together. That library also includes every map from Half-Life 2, so last week, Jasper decided to try loading the entire game at once.
i loaded all the half life 2 maps at the same time pic.twitter.com/d1dsaMIceWJuly 10, 2021
From overhead maps to stitched-together 3D models, this isn't the first time someone has attempted to stitch together Gordon Freeman's entire journey. But it is, as far as I can tell, the best rendition of the game's environments pieced together in one, continuous form.
It's shockingly consistent, too. The route through City 17's streets, sewers, canals and rivers never overlaps on itself, and it's not until the coastal jeep section that you see some serious intersection problems (the whole thing apparently takes place a few dozen feet below the canals).
Granted, Half-Life 2 is a big game, and even Jasper's trick doesn't manage to capture the entire thing in one image. They've given it a good shot with Noclip's isometric view, though, which helps put City 17's districts and waterways into clearer context with each other.
I have an orthographic mode, so something like this? Might be a bit hard to see because of all the overlapping. pic.twitter.com/CpqMbw8YP3July 20, 2021
Sadly, the public version of Noclip won't let you dump dozens of levels into your browser at once. But it's a great tool if you want some insight into how your favourite game worlds are put together—in Half-Life 2's case, letting you peep at invisible trigger blocks and the tiny maps-within-a-map that form each level's skybox.
Cheers, RPS.
