It's not gonna win any awards, but for a first level in the engine it's a decent effort. You've clearly picked up how to use the displacement tool to good effect really quickly, as the terrain encasing the level looks great. Sadly what's inside that terrain isn't quite as impressive; it's a very flat, single level arena with what seems like a fairly random assortment of buildings and props scattered around. Some odd design decisions and glitches as well, of which I'll mention a couple...

• Why have a pit with a ladder in/out if you're only going to put a stunstick inside it? Any combine players will start with one so it isn't REALLY a weapon you ought to place in most maps, and even if they don't already have one, players won't go into such a risky spot for such a nothing pickup. Dead ends, particularly with such a dangerous route out like a ladder, really need something to make it worth the player's time. I'd say a combine rifle with one or two of the bouncing balls would be suitable.

• Is there any way to get onto the main building roof? You've got an RPG and RPG ammo crate up there, but I couldn't find any way up there that wasn't via noclip. I'm guessing there is no way up due to the nodraw faces up there and the remaining RPG was an oversight, but that just makes it clear the map isn't finished. It's a shame it isn't accessible as vertical levels are exactly what the map needs. You have one or two minor rises and dips, but why have a 32 unit ledge when you can have it 128 units, where it'll start to make a difference to gameplay? Then you could link off from there onto the building roofs, or an accessible cliff ledge. Would be nice to bring some of your nice terrain into the playable area.

• Only one way into/out of the water isn't going to make it an appealing spot to visit. Ideally you'd want at least two ways out, and preferably the option to get to a less exposed area, such as a (short) underwater tunnel that leads to the interiors of one of the buildings somehow.

• The instant death fall isn't nearly obvious enough that it'll kill you. It's a reasonably short drop in terms of HL2DM gameplay, so people will assume you can survive it. The death certainly made me go "oh...that's not right".

• The big trash can seems to function weirdly. You can jump-crouch into the thing, but then your screen starts shaking around and you seem to glitch into the side walls.

• Some of the ammo boxes open and work as they do in game, others just sit there and have weapons spawn on top. Try not to confuse players with things like that - make it act the way they expect it to, which is the way that it works in HL2 itself.

Anyway, I'm sure you've learnt most of these lessons already Looking forward to seeing what you do next time around.

de_thunder an old CounterStrike Map could be re-done and this is a great concept for that map. This one is really pretty. I love the skybox with the trees and surrounding mountains. I really feel I am in the North West, but in spots it looks and feels more South East, swampy. Over all though it is a very decent map that looks and plays well. I give ya 4 stars!