So you've done it, you made that amazing map, textured it and made some puzzles... As it stands, it can be played, it can be beaten. Somethings not right though. Sure you've got the gun blasting charade and the puzzles. But your map just seems... dead?

This is the part of mapping that seperates the good mappers from the amazing mappers - The ability to make your map breathe.

There is no definitive way to do this though. How you bring your map to life depends on your map. However, there are some general ideas you can follow, in order from easiest to implement to hardest. Some of course can't be used in multiplayer.

• Sounds - A silent map is often a bad map. Aside from setting a trap to make the player jump, there is no excuse to have total silence. If your map is a lab, add some humming noises. If its a complex, add some quiet wind. If its industrial, add machine sounds. If its outdoors in the day, add some wind and some outdoor sounds, such as birds chirping. If its outdoors in the evening, add loud wind, and mix some quite machine sounds that give the overall effect of something in the distance, such as a city. There are plenty of sounds online and even with the game to make anything you want.
  
  
• Furniture - Furniture usually never has a purpose besides to look good (Although in some areas of Half Life the player could use it to reach secret areas). Most furniture should be made pushable, cause you don't often find chairs that are bolted into the carpet of an office.
  
  
• Areas the player isn't required to go - This simple plan creates the illusion that the place the player is in isn't solely designed for him. Don't overdo it however, or you will end up with players becoming lost in your maze. A couple halls or rooms here and there works well. Sometimes having health or a weapon amongst these areas gives it some reason to exist and as a bonus for using the players time.
  
  
• NPC's - Scientists make an awesome addition to many maps. Having them type away at computers, or writing stuff on chalk boards is very immersive. Better yet, for each scientist set up 2 or 3 scripted sequences that makes them move in a loop to 3 different places to do something.
  
  
• The Speaker Entity - You may be wondering why this is down here, seeing as its a simple entity that can just be placed.
  The real power of this entity comes in how customisable it is. You can set up you own list of customised sentences that it will announce.
  
  
• Patrolling enemies - I don't know about you, but usually in battles, both the good guys and bad guys are moving around looking for each other. Every NPC can be set to patrol (Using their target property) along path_corners. When they see the player (If they are enemies), they will stop patrolling and start chasing you! Now imagine mixing this with a garg!
  
  
• Lighting - Lighting probably has the most immersive effect. Without proper lighting, nothing looks right. It can make or break a map. Because of this it can sometimes be very difficult to set up proper contrasts and colour blends. A light area should never become a dark area immediately (Exception for when you want the player to use their flashlight), there should be a slow fade to darkness. Certain colours also mix well with certain types of textures:
  - A soft yellow or orange light works wonders with wooden textures.
  - White with a bit of blue or yellow or orange (Depending on the time of day) goes good with outdoor rock and terrain textures.
  - For a dreary addition to indoor stone/concrete, use a greyish blue light, preferably coming in through the few windows.
  - Heavy red or half-yellow half-white goes well with clean metals (Or sometimes both together)
  - For a neat effect in a dark area, use a faint (Not bright) and strong noticable red light with rusty metal textures.
  - Anything alien calls for bright strong green.
  
  
  The pictures below show how proper lighting can instantly create a huge amount of detail and realism that normal lighting would not.
  Plain Light / Complementing Light
  (Plain light is the default colour, taken at 80 brightness (Except the rock one taken at 150). Coloured is indicated)
  
  (255 190 60 (110))
  
  (128 255 255 (160, others work well))
  
  (255 0 0 (160. 80-100 works much better but turns much darker in screenshots. Taken from unlighted corner to show effect in darkness.)
  
  (140 255 100 (80)
  
  
  There are also tonnes of ideas that mix light with sound (Such as alarms and spinning flashing red lights; Electrical sounds and a light-blue light set to strobe)
  

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The ultimate goal of all of these things of course is to control the players emotions. Keep the player anticipating, but at the same time, trap them into a feeling of safety before scaring the s**t out of them. Surprise is exciting. Don't overdo it, and don't underdo it. [b]Above all else, playtest your map thoroughly, then get your friends to do the same. Ask them what THEY think of it.

Good luck and happy mapping