Freezing Point has been out for over a month, and we've already exceeded 50,000 unique downloads on Steam alone! Thank you to everyone who has played it and given feedback, positive or negative.

While I have a moment, here are some fun facts about my campaign and the mindset I had when making it.

1. This campaign was originally 3 maps instead of 4

It happened again! First Time to Die, now Freezing Point. I guess I'm just a creature of habit.

Freezing Point was planned from the start to be shorter and more experimental (in a gameplay sense) than Time to Die. It was my way of learning new things about Source, Hammer, and level design in general. To that end, I would say I met my goals.

However, it ended up growing way more ambitious than expected, and Map 2 was getting long as hell. Originally, the elevator in the mansion led directly into the secret lab (specifically, the part with the vending machines on the floor). I thought this chapter was getting ridiculous, especially compared to the itty bitty first map, so I split it in two and added new areas to connect the halves. No regrets.

2. Resident Evil inspired Freezing Point (unsurprisingly)

Shocker, I know, but this campaign was mostly inspired by two things: dealing with the Minnesota winter every year, and the Resident Evil remake trilogy. RE2R in particular is one of my favorite games ever made, and I've beaten it at least 10 times.

There are lots of allusions to the RE series beyond the core premise, of course. Sir Spencer and Chief Irons get their obvious shout-outs, and there's also graffiti from the Redfield siblings if you know where to look.

3. How many elements are randomized? Well... a lot!

Randomizing your progression through Freezing Point was one of my main goals with this project, beyond the simple randomness that the Director already provides by default. Here are all the elements I personally set up to change with every playthrough.

Map 1: 5 spawn points for the 3 lockpicks, low chance of Witch spawn on the bridge

Map 2: 5 spawn points for the 3 machines, 2 possible barricade spawns each on floor 1, floor 2, and the stairs, plus 2 spawn points for the floor 3 metal detector

Map 3: 2 spawn points for the keycard, 2 spawn points for a wooden barricade, 2 spawn points for the lab Tank, plus a low chance of a Witch or Tank right before the safe room (and because the Director also likes to spawn zombies there, it's theoretically possible for you to get two Witches, or two Tanks, or one of each!)

There are also 5 possible Survivor discussions in every safe room, and there are a few variations on the finale computer conversations as well. You have no idea how much work this took behind the scenes!

4. None of the custom voice lines were spoken by humans

All the voice acting in Freezing Point is done via text-to-speech programs since none of the "characters" are human.

The metal detector lines are spoken by Tom, a classic voice that was used by the U.S. National Weather Service for broadcast announcements from 2003 to 2016. I grew up in Kansas, so Tom's tornado warnings left a lasting impression on me. Meanwhile, the Spencer Corporation computer is voiced by Google's default U.K. female voice because I wanted her to sound snooty and smug (I'm not sorry, Brits).

As for the secret easter egg characters, those voices were generated by the fantastic 15.ai program, which is something I highly recommend checking out. It has options for replicating the voices of every TF2 class, GLaDOS, and probably a zillion cartoon ponies if you're into that sort of thing.

5. The snow isn't snow (sometimes)

This is something you'd probably never figure out in-game, but in the first level, the "snowflakes" falling outside are technically pieces of ash according to the Source Engine's precipitation properties. However, the finale actually does have authentic snowflakes falling outside in the dark. I simply chose whichever one looked better in a given level. I guess you should hold your breath in Map 1 so you don't cough!

6. This entire campaign was made by one person

I prefer to work alone, so I do mean it when I say the entire campaign was a solo effort apart from the snow and ice textures I shamelessly borrowed from CS:GO. The concept, the level design, the AI navigation, the testing, the custom sound edits, the custom textures, the writing, the sentence mixing, the poster, the logo (which is honestly my favorite part)... all of it was done by yours truly Kyle H. McCloud.

So, now you know why there was a 17-month gap between Time to Die and Freezing Point. This campaign was supposed to come out last December, but I had lengthy delays because of real-life commitments and a PC upgrade that went horribly wrong. I also spent the entirety of April 2021 doing nothing in my spare time but playing Resident Evil games, which probably didn't speed things up...

7. There are several references to movies and shows hiding in plain sight

My wife and I are huge Star Trek fans, so naturally there are multiple in-jokes about the final frontier. The tape reels on the supercomputer in Map 4 have the same serial number as the original USS Enterprise, and the name of the A.I. is "Project Majel" in tribute to Majel Barrett, the "first lady" of Star Trek and voice of Starfleet computers from 1987 to 2009. Project Majel is also on version number 1.9.66 since the Original Series first aired in 1966. One last Star Trek gag can be found on the green computer screens in Map 3, where you can find mention of a scientist named Kelly DeForest in reference to the late great DeForest Kelly, better known as Dr. McCoy.

There's also a Ghostbusters joke in Map 2, referencing a line about Twinkies from the original movie and featuring the first names of the four Ghostbusters (or their actors, at least). Graffiti and computer screens also allude to names of characters and actors from Night of the Living Dead, Zombieland, The Last of Us, and so on. And who could forget that the mansion's home theater is showing the cinematic masterpiece Samurai Cop?

8. There are also things that look like references, but aren't (kinda)

Some of you may have thought the movie posters in Map 2 were advertising obscure movies nobody remembers, but I actually made them all myself. Although I'm a writer by trade, I have some graphic design training that comes in handy now and then.

Also, if anyone is wondering, all 8 Survivors are listed with first and last names on a computer monitor in Map 3, but most of these are not canon. Bill has a canon surname, but I made up all the others based on what seemed right. Nick Delucci sounds like an Italian mobster name, Ellis McGee is a quintessential hick, etc.

A few of these names actually are references, though. Zoey Warner is named after the Warner Bros. movie studio, Darnell Coleman combines the names of Coach's voice actor and face model, and Francis Romero is of course a tribute to director George A. Romero (and his voice actor also has a Spanish surname, so I think it's doubly fitting).

That's all for now!

Funnily enough, I ended my "fun facts" post for Time to Die by promising that my next L4D2 campaign would not spend an entire year in development hell. Now that I know myself better, I will make no such promises ever again.