[WIP] Saved by the cake

[Yekyaa]

[NocturnalGhost]

Good idea. That would probably be the preferred solution.

I really need to get up to speed with all this new stuff lol. I haven't mapped much since HL1, so there's a lot i still have to learn.

One more small thing I just noticed with this map is that, whilst you can pick up the heavy L-block, you can't pick up the thin vent thing at the end. This should either be broken when you touch it, able to be picked up, or on a hinge and still attached, to explain why you can't pick it up.

Just a small detail, but it adds to the final "polish" of the map.

[Helix_Snake]

Alright, beta 2 fixes most of the problems you guys brought up. Thank you. If anyone has any other suggestions, glitches, easy shortcuts, etc. please tell me.

[f0rkz]

Great to hear you got it going! IMO anyone that has to suffer through lack of SDK is AOK in my book

[Player1]

[NocturnalGhost]

Glad to hear you are still working on this map Helix_Snake.

I had another play-through, and have another list of things that you should look at. (Sorry, but it wouldn't be a real beta test, if everything worked well for you first time )

Okay, here goes:

First room:
I lke the fact that you made the cube(s) here into normal storage cubes. It puts less importance on the fact you have to leave them behind/fizzle them, so players won't spend ages trying to get a companion cube past the emancipator later on.

Now, on to the problems I saw here.
1) The box dropper regularly spawns 2 blocks. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but it simplifies the puzzle here a bit (more on that in a second)
1b) Both boxes say the same sentence when picked up, which is wierd when you do get 2 at once, but no big deal in itself.

2) The puzzle here seemed originally intended to show that portal direction matters, which i liked. Unfortunately, this is somewhat broken due to having 2 boxes. If you shoot the ceiling portal from the box dropper side, you can stand on one box, and throw the other one through to activate the switch, then just jump through the portal when the barrier moves from the bottom.

3) I like that you've made the killing field a bit more obvious, but it looks more like red glass than a field. I think an effect similar to the emancipation field would look better here (like a red version, or something similar).


The Connecting room:
1) You should maybe think about putting an emancipation field at the top, or on either side of the button before you drop down here. This will stop players wondering if they need to take the cube(s) with them.

2) The height of the emancipation field at the bottom seems wrong. There is a gap at the top that looks like it could fit a cube through, which may add to player confusion, and it also seems to extend some way under the floor, as seen through the gap.


Block puzzle room:
1) Whilst walking around this room trying to think as a player who doesn't know this puzzle, I decided to walk around/over the L-block a few times, to see how obvious it seemed to me. This is where I noticed a big problem. It killed me, instantly!

This must be some kind of wierd physics error, due to having the box embedded in a space that small. I tried to repeat this, and, although it did not kill me again, it did seem to "charge up" with energy as a i walked backwards and forwards over it, jumping about in it's hole, before eventually flying across the room, as if hit by a grav gun.


Cake tunnel:
You can still see "void" immediately to the left of the cake dispenser. There must be a nodraw here that you have missed.


Rest of level:
It is still completable using the L-block, in exactly the same way as before, without ever seeing Britney.


These are, in my mind, the most important flaws with this map. It's not all criticism though. I like what you have done with the new dialogue, as you are never left wondering "what now?", and it's good that you are taking on board what people are saying, and finding work-arounds.

Keep up the good work. Good luck with this map.

[Lorithad]

I really liked the revisions to the map. The only thing that kind of irritated me, was how the The L-Block killed me. 3 times.

It happened like this:
Portal 1 was put on the bottom right.
Portal 2 was put on bottom left.
L-Block was inserted through portal 1 into Socket A
Portal 1 was then put on top right.
L-block was adjusted so as to complete the walkway.
Player killed while adjusting L-block


I think it has something to do with the size of the L block in relation to the portal. You have to have the L-block alligned perfectly with the portal in order for it to go in. Otherwise it bounces back at high velocity, which kills you. I think. It all happened so fast.

I did like that it was now a lot harder to kill yourself with the red bar. Would still think something like a combine shield would work better though. Just something that allows objects to pass through, but not people. Once the button is pressed, the shield drops, the metal plate moves, and everyone lives happily ever after.

As far as NocturnalGhost's comment regarding the top of the first emancipation field, I actually thought that on my first run through the map. It contributed to me restarting the map that first time.

One question though. In the 148 pound button room
Does the button actually do anything aside from provide light?
Cause being in the dark is one of those things that gets to me often. I'd much rather see the room lighted normally, and have the button open the way to the elevator.


Keep up the good work

[DELTA2468]

I like the map (except for finding the L block). Maybe you should add hearts on it and make it the compainion l block. Or have it fall as earlier post have said. I loved the part with the cake however I managed to get myself stuck a few times by some odd glitches.
1. one time with the l block in the portals it simply dissapered perventing me from killng the cake.
2. I actually managed to get Britney stuck in the grating.
These glithces seem very rare so my advice is simply make some auto save points in case it happens to a player they can reload

[Coookie]

ah, i found the L-brick pretty easy to find, but I have no clue
what to do with the heavy companion cube after i dropped it on
the big button. It's all so dark and i see nearly nothing The
level is awesome thugh

[Doomsday192]

The mother of all bumps.

[Coookie]

oops sry...
thught this game was something new,
atleast they advertisement made it look
like something neeeewwww. still
anybody knows how to finish the map ?

[Doomsday192]

Post before yours: Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 7:03 pm

Your post: Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:38 pm

not too hard to figure out

[elijahlucian]

i loved this one. i solved it in about 15 mins. it was really easy actually... i loved all the jokes.

only 1 thing i noticed.

i dont know if its my video card. im running geforce 8800gt and your text seemed to cut off at the ends of some sentences.

otherwise i found this map quite entertaining. i like the way you think. its quite refreshing. i was a bit iffy about trying custom maps after i beat all the advanced ones in portal. but you have quelled my fears.

also when your done maps. if you want some voice acting, let me know. my girlfriend does excellent voices. and i run a professional recording studio but i will only do work for a finished or 99% finished map. like yours!

evolucianmusic.com

ttyl

[Doomsday192]

oh mah gawd another bump on a thread which was just bumped a week or so before this bump!