GMOD VR: Exploring gm_Boreas (Something Beneath the Ice) 

My cousin told me about this map but never about the bunker. My friends and I were RPING as special forces using black Mesa mods vs the bio-anhillation mod when we realized that they were coming from the underground areas cause of full world spawn. That sphere was the first thing we saw as we entered the tunnel and turned the corner. This map is my all time favorite because what turned from special forces securing a observation facility lead us into basically the same story as the thing

18:12 The best quote from this video. "I feel like in life the scariest things, or at least the most unnerving things are the stories you tell yourself about what might be around the corner."

"I was having a regular out-of-bobby experience right there" Hank hill: "Damn it, bobby. . ." 27:24

On the relationship between comfy and creepy: if comfy is the feeling of being insulated from danger, A lot of these maps are just unsettling enough to give you the impression that something has made it inside that insulation

gm_generators would be a great map to play next, it’s got ambience, the creepy feeling with some comfy feeling.

8:18 “now we havent quite reached anxiety levels yet requiring a safety glock” Only in gmod would someone say this

Me and my friend were playing on this map with the cry of fear snpcs and due to the nodes they would follow you around everywhere no matter how far you went away. We used the skybox editor to make it dark and foggy while my friend spawned spawners around the map that would continuously spawn SNPCs. I went over to the radio station at 17:56 and since it was so foggy my friend didn’t know where to go so he was just driving around the map, even though we had helicopters and LFS plane mods you could barely see ahead of you up in the sky. This was the first time he ever played on the map so I had to put bright red lights on trees, the road, and the bridge nearby in order for him to find his way to me. He got lucky and found himself at that observatory so he quickly found the bridge and followed the lights up to the radio station. He drove his badly damaged Simphys car past the fence and I blocked it off with a truck. We both then went inside and placed down a campfire near that TV and the couch, we sat down but I saw a shadow outside the window. So I went to investigate and had a shotgun out and saw a crawler enemy at the truck, they focused on me and used a hammer to smack the truck, damaging it. The tank on the back of the truck got knocked off and I shot it dead. I reported the incident to my friend and we upgraded the barricade at the front. The backyard was rather safe because the area was blocked off by the fence and enemies couldn’t get in. I didn’t have much use for the backyard so I put an emergency escape helicopter there in case of an emergency. It would be better to be lost in fog than cut in half by a saw crazy. We boarded up the windows and I climbed onto the roof and spawned some rebel NPCs out front so we would know if something non friendly was out there via shooting. I had also placed an escape car on the street passing by the building, it was in the red light so we could find it easily in an emergency. We were chilling inside when all of a sudden we heard a scream outside. Not a rebel dying, but a scream from one of the cry of fear SNPCs. This means they agroed on the rebels out front. I then hear a smash sound and see in between the cracks in the boarded up windows that the truck blocking the entrance had been knocked out the way and there were a bunch of enemies approaching the door. My friend informs me about more shadows on the street meaning that more were coming so we wouldn’t be able to stay and fight. Then the door came off the wall because of the door breaching mod. The enemies came in, killing our NPC friends as we escape the back door. As we get into the chopper I see a few enemies coming around the side to the backyard, I take off and I fly around aimlessly in the fog. I descend and spot the ground so we get out and spawn a car. My friend was driving, and we weren’t on the road for more than a minute until we come flying off the cliff side and into the crevasse. The tire screeching noises before we fell showed that my friend attempted to make a stop. We land at that base in the ravine and we bunker down in the garage area. By now they just lost track of us and had no idea where we were. This is the magic of Gmod

This map was always interesting to me because unlike all of the other exploration maps where you are exploring a run down city or a dilapidated sears you are instead walking around a well light and seemingly well lived in bunker. When I explored this in vr I didn't feel like I was scared to see someone but that it would be more so a friendly surprise like I am seeing a old friend if that makes any sense.

In a way, this map reminds me of a SCP facility that was overrun by an SCP they couldn't quite stop or contain. I love watching these videos.

Hey, I'm the creator of this map. Great video! Glad it delivered on the comfiness and creepiness to some degree. It's funny that you mentioned The Thing at 16:18. I'm a big fan of the film and it was my main inspiration for the map's setting. The alien organism embedded in ice was actually intended as a little homage. I initially wanted the block of ice to look like something had already burst from it or been cut out of it like in the film, but I had trouble getting it to look good so I just kept it intact. (Two additional easter eggs/references: the year on the sign at 33:00 is the year when the film released, and this sign and others use a font that's also used in the film)

18:13 "In life, the scariest things are the stories you tell yourself about what might be around the corner." What a great quote. I want that on a water bottle.

27:23 "I was having a regular out-of-Bobby experience there."

There are still like i think 15-40% parts of the underground that you still havent explored yet, thats just how big this map is.

46:51 love how you call the alien frozen in the ice "ay lmao".

your gmod exploration videos are so good! i love just chilling and listening to you talk. literally i feel like im there with you. great stuff! keep it up! it doesnt matter if the map is scary, weird, expansive, or just normal. ive watched all of your gmod exploration videos. And i can say i like them all a lot!

5:08 A remote military installation probably made during the Cold War as a launch site for a preemptive or retaliatory nuclear attack? 35:53 I expected there to be another missile there... The fact that there isn't one is more unsettling to me than if another were there... 37:04 I think it's a fuel tank... 38:05 Honestly, the true horror of this map to me is that it's like a relic of the Cold War and it's like that shadow hangs over it... Looming, like the very threat that was present when it was constructed. 47:12 It was a place of potential destruction and death untold, the alien is probably the least scary thing about this place.

I love your videos, like a ton; you say some of the most interesting things ever. I recently watched your cozy Minecraft map video, and as soon as you revealed the hospital, it reminded me of this one GMod map called "Never Lose Hope Hospital". You could check it out if you want. I had a lot of fond memories with that map. It inspired me to create my own story about a haunted hospital that took place right after a deadly pandemic. And yeah, this map was freaking gorgeous.

No matter how many times I play this map I cannot get over the displacement work, it’s so near perfect and it must have taken ages to create.

The fact that there are no obvious signs that anything went wrong makes it a little more unnerving. No blood stains, no bodies, not even any signs that anyone was panicking or rushing to leave in a hurry. It's like everyone just disappeared in the middle of their daily routine. Did the sphere transport them all to another dimension? Did it just completely erase them from existence?

19:26 I thought you would say "Imagine seeing someone or something fall off that bridge and not know what it is or who it is until you get closer"

Love what you said about the nature feeling comfy, but deceptively so. I've been on a few backpacking trips in Colorado and that's how I feel about the wilderness. The landscape is world class beautiful, but the serene landscapes and picturesque beauty of the mountains also represent a completely harsh and unforgiving environment. Mountains get very cold a night, the weather changes quickly, the wildlife can stalk and attack you. It's pretty and inviting but also very desolate and creepy from the inside.

I (when having nextbot fun on this map) never stop to realize how creepy it is, especially when you take the other side which is that it is the biggest map that I know. Edit: why is this guy not a poet

15:33 Another scary idea is a typical scouting watch during the day and looking out at the satellite dish you see a trail of blood leading to the door and then promptly hear screams over the radio chatter telling you to run.

27:40 The whole episode Librarian has been talking about all these horror scenarios of stalking creatures and mysterious phenomena and now he just sent his escape route careening away from him, he has fully slipped into the role of White Guy in a Horror Movie.

Librarian singlehandedly allows me to hold onto both my interest in VR exploration and liminal environments before I’m able to get my own capable machine one day. Thanks mate

The environment is absolutely beautiful. I really am happy when someone clearly puts effort and passion into their craft no matter what it is. The example being the fog creating a sense of distance that normally wouldn't translate as well without it, making the map feel even bigger than it is. Color, lighting, you name it. Very believable place, everything just makes sense and that makes it pretty immersive. Also have i mentioned the snow? I mean the blessing when there is a really nice snow map is certainly huge. Highly underrated type of environment so the custom textures help it pop out. When it comes to contrast between cosy and creepy i can't agree more. If we always experienced dread and scare it would wear off sooner or later, almost like expecting a jumpscare and you just don't feel its effect anymore. So this map does it just right. Appreciate the extra content once again. Always a treat!

I really liked Firewatch too! A lot of people were dissatisfied with the ending, but I think it was wonderful in a symbolic way. That life isn't like a movie, and sometimes you get disappointed and let down by others. The atmosphere is top notch, too.

26:30 Yes, it does actually. It's based off of underground military installations in Russia. This elevator is seen in Half Life 2 Episode 2, just much shorter.

I can imagine someone having to fix up an old junk, clunker of a car in order to escape a horror scenario like this.

22:36 I just love that even after you said you can't drive irl, you still look both ways before pulling out into traffic.

Greetings Lib! Im 8sianRaine again from your community, if you know me. So... I got to play this map for Testing LFS Planes only and exploration. Under the bunker of the Snowy Tundra place i could feel some Liminality of the area whereas it was to be some Soviet Bunker somewhere in Eastern russia. Now I didn't really explore the entire map because it was laggy at some point but i do still play it properly. The textures and props where closely based at HL2 EP2 Silo Bunker

"that sign can't stop me because I can't read" 100% the best thing to say to a sign warning you not to proceed

I really enjoy these maps way more than the jumpscare ones, these are slightly unsettling and you don't have to turn down the volume every 30 seconds also you do a really good job at unnerving me more with your commentary about what could possibly happen than the map itself

Man, this map has those Winter Vibes that I love so much, that view at the start is beautiful... I kind of think I should wait to watch this video because I want to explore this map myself.

The Librarian: its like climbing into the gorilla enclosure at the zoo Me: *has vivid flash backs to the may 26 2016 cincinnati zoo incident*

"Imagine hiding away from the storm in this heated room" **casually leaves all doors wide open**

This is easily my favorite Gmod map, it makes me so happy to see you dive into it

8:50 "Quick, guys! The shift supervisor's out! Let's play some CS GO!"

I love this vid. The first person perspective made some things incredibly funny. Seeing you hold your hands pit on the vertical transit elevator as if you were clinging for life was incredibly funny, (more so if you actually WERE clinging to it lol). That and seeing you actually wave bye-bye as you sent it away. So much personality here ^^

39:16 It looks to me like some sort of experimental directed energy weapon test chamber, with the machinery in the room being the weapon itself (The Cylinder with the point sticking out of it), and a target placement thing (The Cylinder with the cage-looking metal structure). Keep in mind that powerful lasers back then were very large (With the NOVA Laser from 1984 built for inertial confinement fusion test being as big as a basketball court), so it would make sense that this weapon would be at least within those bounds, due to technological constraints. Plus, this is a secret lab. It would make sense for this place to be doing at least some weapons research.

The vr really makes you appreciate the details in these maps

This map kind of makes me think of a research base where they did secret research on military weapons, specifically missile research, but then for some odd reason the commander incharge of the base makes a plan for expanding, and tells them where to expand, and eventually they find some sort of unknown ancient object, that seems to draw them in, they begin to take information on the object, and find something frozen in ice, and they begin researching it, but then something happens coursing them to abandon the base, maybe trying to escape the object from the object, and let it be forgotten

seeing librarian driving a car in this map with vr headset on while being certainly happy is so wholesome

The metal sphere that pulled you towards it gave me mad Astartes vibes. If you're unaware, Astartes was a series of professional level warhammer 40k animations that were made by one guy. In order to prevent as much spoilers as possible while still getting my point across, I'll just say that there's a similar sphere in the series.

The entertainment and fun of gm_boreas is matched by the fear and paranoia induced by the isolation and dark corridors

The person that made this map has surely got to be a professional level designer. Its absolutely amazing! They likely know a thing or two about what old missile silos look like too because the staggering level of detail just seems too good for it to be made from imagination alone.

Walking through an abandoned town with the librarian would be the worse "hey I know were alone but hear this what if.."

13:19 that tunnel reminds me of my favorite road in the newest Forza game. Imagine a mod where you could have an '86 in VR...

I feel like gmod in general just has that creepy but comfy feeling. Take gm_construct (singleplayer) for example. It makes you feel comfortable knowing that nobody else is around meaning you have nothing to worry about yet at the same time it gives off that creepy feeling that something is there just watching you, especially when you get into the pitch black areas of the map with just your flash light. But let’s say that you want to go on gm_construct singleplayer without having to experience the feeling of something watching you. My personal recommendation would be using the artymus base system (I think that’s what it’s called). The system/addon allows you to set up a base complete with turrets, SAMS and mines which from my experience gives of a feeling of protection.

I get the feeling what they dug up is either some ancient buried gravity defying spacecraft or portal as a homage to the thing and/or Event Horizon and slightly inspired by Sphere.. Or its only the top of a massive buried ancient statue to some forgotten eldritch god, think Dagon. The way it draws the player character in makes me think all of the staff of the facility were somehow absorbed or pulled into it mentally and physically.

After seeing 21:59 , i now imagine The Librarian playing Assetto Corsa on VR. His commentary on a racing game would be interesting and quite unique actually.

Absolutely fantastic map, gives me goosebumps to play through just because of how real it feels. I'm actually kind of sad that there are overt things like the ice cube thing, the holding cells, the arsenals and *T H E O R B* because other than that, this could be either a totally benevolent research base or an honest to God nuclear silo, and you'd have no way of knowing which. Are the rockets bearing warheads or research satellites? Where is this base? Was it all taxpayer funded? Which machines do what? I love how purposeful the place seems, like the layout was actually centrally planned, though maybe with the exception of the radar station, which probably would've been the site of further tunnelling considering the expense of putting the big freight elevator there. How lived in is this place, anyway? Is it just the standard fare of being empty because its GMod, or is the place really canonically abandoned? If yes, then how long ago? It doesn't seem decrepit, the generators are still humming in the green, and there's still food on the countertops of the kitchen. Has the place been taken over by Combine or Rebels? The Lambdas on the silo doors imply the latter. Are the old 4:3 monitors and Seven Hour War newspaper clippings just re-used HL2 assets, or has this place really been abandoned since the 2000s? How many research disciplines did this facility dedicate itself to? I count geology, xenobiology, xenoarcheology, botany and possibly some form of space research. Maybe that's what they used all the monitors for. The monitors are my second favourite part of the map. My absolute favourite part of the map is the amount of papers scattered around. Filing cabinets, loose notes, binders, everything. This facility was PACKED with paperwork. Whatever they were doing down here for 15-35 years, they did a lot of it, and recorded every word of it. The sheer number of documents that had to be created, catalogued and stored. It'd take someone days to try and find a specific page within the whole mass of it all. That stuff hits me harder than big ground orbs. That's big enough to freak me out but small-scale enough for me to recognize it. The books and mantlepieces also contribute to the history. The different displays like the harpoon in the lobby and the various knickknacks and personalizations in the dormitories plus the various hardcovers on the shelves just oozes history and character. I feel like if you compiled a reading list of all the books on the shelves of the facility you'd end up with something spanning a dozen types of non-fiction paperbacks, with the few fiction entries being just as enlightening. My one other complaint is the lack of living quarters. I'd say there's accommodations for less than 50 people, when I think it should be double that considering the radar station staff, radio station staff, security guards, logistical guys, technicians maintaining equipment, lab assistants, janitors, probably more I'm not even thinking of... Maybe only 10% of the actual lab equipment is used at a time and all the scientists are flown in by plane on the airstrip, but they'd still need somewhere to stay the night.

Funnily enough I played this map just a day before your upload. I gotta say, the best thing about it to me is the insane attention to details given its grand scale. Every room feels like people lived and worked in them, that this place has a lot of stories but there's no one to tell them. My theory is that the sphere was found during an excavation to expand the base. Scientists started to experiment on it, which eventually awoken an eldritch being sleeping within it (or maybe sphere itself is the being?) and deleted everyone from reality as if they never existed. Either that or the sphere is an alien nest and thousands of creatures like the one frozen in ice crawled out of it. As for the missile silo - might as well be used for launching satellites, since some monitors show sending it to orbit. Yeah, I know, it's an asset from Ep. 2, but I like to think it's there for a reason. Edit: I wrote this before watching your video and it looks like you came to similar conclusions :)

A lot of your ideas for games are things that I've always thought about and wanted. Like a really atmospheric VR driving horror game.

Awww man. I always save your videos to watch on chill nights when I just want to wind down and relax. Never disappointed. Your attitude to horror and eerie settings is brilliant.

I love how dramatic it gets only for you to say "that's an honest to god ay-lmao." I love it.

This really reminded me of an abandoned Air Force base I explored a few years ago. All the old computers still there (though switched off, unlike this map), just giving the sense everyone just got up and left one day. Very eerie.

Imagine you and your mission team fly with a fairchild c-119 over mountains full of white snow and when you arrive at your research station with a radio tower you bring your luggage into the house and prepare for the mission, but suddenly one comes thick snowstorm so strong that the radio tower is destroyed and no longer have any communication with the outside world. You discuss who goes out to repair it and one of them has been selected. He goes out and it starts to take too long others start to send 2 more people out to see where the other person has gone who wanted to repair the tower. The storm blows strongly against and hard that the current is coming from the building and everyone is frightened one of the scientists looks out of the window and sees in the distance through the thick snowstorm a black figure slowly approaching he calls the others and really notice it someone out there who might be able to help someone else takes a flashlight and gives light signals so that this black person knows their location but they don't know that this action means their cruel death .. to be continued.

Aw man i’ve been waiting for this one. Awesome ^-^

A creepy thought I had: Imagine working the radar station and you are half asleep and suddenly you hear air raid sirens. And you look through your window to see the air field completely lit up as soldiers and pilots rush around while gun fire can be heard happening somewhere in the chaos.

God the way you speak is so enticing and complex yet simple just with the use of many analogys that even as you tell these horror situations that would possibly bring someone to discomfort or even fear I stay calm comfortable welcomed by your tale you are throwing all together creating a imaginative tale as a treat for the image nation and curiosity I love it keep it up

This one has quite a few of memories attatched to it when it comes to myself. Me and my friends have spent many hours RDM'ing, making weird flying contraptions to traverse the terrain or, when there we enough of us, having entire wars with tanks, planes and infantry (the most players we ever had had in a single server was on this map with there being 11 of us)

dear librarian, early in the video i was dying to see you drive around since everything is spaced out, but didnt really expect you to. then you brought out a buggy. i had a big smile on my face. great choice and never stop exploring

the actual area of the sphere itself being in a part of the facility thats far more undeveloped than the rest of it it feels as though the whole facility was abandoned in haste as soon within hours of finding the sphere. and with most of the lights and computers still on and everything looking as though people have recently been there and therefore it was probably abandoned recently with the player arriving maybe only a few days or up to a week after the abandonment, perhaps this ties in with the "if something horrible happens out here help wont arrive for days" theory you had

For some reason I find this map really comfy, in VR I just like to go to the dormitories and take a rest, its great

i just found this video randomly the other day and i gotta say i love the content, i love how you talk about the emptyness and creepyness of Gmod maps and also the calm and quite beautful landscapes! love your voice too, its calm and you dont scream, not that i dont enjoy that, just a nice change of pace. your videos feels like the vids you can have in the background while doing other things and i like it. looking foward to what you do next!

i really like this map, its so big and open, and very well detailed and cool in the underground areas

Thanks for checking it out! Also this isn't important, but you can open the silo doors with the levers on their control panels

"ill be with you every step of the way" -jester from crayola 3d castle creator

43:21 that room directly ahead of you has a function in a map called gm_ijm_boreas. That map allows you to launch the missile in the silo using a lever in that control room.

39:00 looks like that machine you stumbled apon is where they connect the warhead to the actual rocket

i can imagine that this map (even when in the bunker/underground base) is cold as hell, especially with the tunnels that some unknown organisms could've made when getting out of the base causing heat to be lost to the outside, and it was also fun attempting to navigate the base with my friend.

Something I would really love to see from this channel is streaming! Your longform exploration videos are my favourite thing to relax to so I know id stick around for full uncut streams! Hell maybe even you could have an occasional event where some channel members/patreon supporters could explore a map with you on stream! Thanks for the great videos as always ☺️

Another haunting idea about creepy and comfy is when the comfy loses it's safety like in Resident Evil when the save point was compromised by a zombie jumpscare.

I love this map. It's super big and loads of fun to mess around in. Awesome to see a video about it!

The map is really good to explore. I don't know why or how but it is really good with the ambience and warmth of this place. Half ominous half cosy. It's a good map

Amazing work, your videos are wonderful and well-put together. Keep up the amazing content Mr Librarian!

love seeing the uploads and knowing i have content to vibe to tonight

Honestly I think Signal Simulator is the perfect blend of spooky and cozy

What a fantastic looking map, it didn't give me much creeps but it still was really cool and detailed. Honestly, your exploration videos are great even without much horror element, your commentary is just always on point. But if we are talking creepy, I would love to see your take on gm oldspaces, its quite similiar to some of the other liminal space maps you've played, but it's insanely detailed, and a huge treat in VR.

This has to be one of my favourite maps of all time. It's beautiful, big and high quality. I love how real all the interiors feel, with every corner full of detail, it looks like it could be a real place were people actually lived and worked. The best part? Both the snowy surface and cozy interiors are absolutely stunning, and would make great maps one their own, but both come in the same package, creating an exceptionally high quality map.

Wow, what are the chances, I downloaded VRMod for the first time today, and spent a solid hour exploring this same exact map in VR. It was amazing, you put it exactly how I did, this mod has made me think over how I used to mess around in GMOD with my friends, only for 6 years later to explore it again, in VR, nostalgia and fear stemming from everything around you.

I remember playing this map with a couple of friends a couple of months ago. All I remember was mass explosions, us hunting each other, and mass spawning of npcs.

this map is so amazing!! might be my favorite one ive seen you go through! really gives me the vibe of someone taking the thing(1982) and just... scaled it up, and i mean that in the best way possible

You are the reason I decided to finally buy myself a Vive, I so far have been enjoying exploring all the possiblities of vr and in gmod too

Well that's convenient, I was just hoping to see a new video of yours!

Holy shit you actually did it, Much apriciated for listening to my suggestion friend

Good video as always, your vr exploration videos are always a treat

Don't worry when you meet the spooky creature, you'll already have broken the ice

A relative of mine who happened to actually work on missiles during the cold war, told me that they most of the maintenance they did on them, just came from doing maintenance on them so much. Also, when a missile site is no longer used, they either disarm them, or fill the facility with concrete. If there are some still there, and some missing, it means they were launched. There's a good chance that the world outside has faced nuclear annihilation, or maybe it was some sort of retaliation against whatever that alien shit was.

Fantastic map had all that I love in it with the added bonus of the sphere and the alein in ice !! Very much like the thing this map could have some amazing game /story qualities also plenty of comfy areas to be safe in while the creeping menace gets ever closer !! maybe throw in night time and a blizzard and moving about trying to fight off the horrors in those tunnels ,might be a real show down better get some flame throwers happening ! Dr Quatermass at the north pole !!A fantastic journey again ... i love your commentary and have been following all your vids recently ... love it when a new one pops up im really into this VR and Garys mod ... I came here via the backrooms btw =)

neat edit: even after all that exploring he still didnt even reach the dorms and the actual inside of the lounge. this map is truly massive.

This is the same map that I had played a mission on a starwars rp server lol. But the way you show it off makes it chilling for me to revisit the map

i think my favourite part about this map is that not only does it look like it has been lived in, but it looks like it is still being lived in. it looks like it is just any old work day; the generators are still running, the lights are still on, half of the computers are still displaying loads of different stuff, there's ammo and supplies and personal items all left unbothered, even the geiger counter is still working. and yet, despite all of that, the entire facility is empty. not a single person is there. it doesnt look like a messy, fast-paced, disorganized, and destructive evacuation from some immediate threat, and yet it doesnt look like a methodical, pack everything and leave official abandonment either. everything about the facility from the sphere to the frozen creature to the capsules to the (assumedly) laser to the fact that only one missile is missing all provide possible, and yet still vague and mysterious answers to the big question this map asks: what happened to all the people? i know that whole spiel probably sounds pretentious and all but this is by far one of if not my favourite maps and its very cool watching others discover all of its mysteries.

Another great video! can't wait for the next one!

the music when you got into the car really added to the experience, very cozy. Happy New Year Btw!

I have to get myself a vr setup for gmod. Been downloading a lot of maps recently, especially liminal or abandoned maps, along with the tardis mod. Love watching these.

This is awesome map, sad that nobody know's about it. Thank you for making this map at least a little bit popular!

Love your vr exploration vids

Yes! been waiting days for this