I loved the bts exploration of Portal2, and I wanted to re-imagine and expand upon the 1970s sections, so here's what I've been working on for the last six months:

Screenshots here (dated September 04):

http://steamcommunity.com/id/RufusThorne/screenshots/


Map 3 in a series, featuring (soon) a daring escape from the test track, some great open exploration of my idea of a 1970s themed bts area. This is more an aesthetic excercise than a playable map with puzzles, but it has an entrance and an exit all the same. Hopefully I will find a way to incorporate some puzzles in the next beta.

Please take time to explore (nearly ALL DOORS will open!!) and you'll know when you get to the exit, because the door closes behind you (it's up top)

There's a current issue with missing brushes depending on look-angle (fog_controller issue I'm still sorting out) and some areas are overly bright or overly dark. Again, I'm working on this.

Once again, please check the screenshots, explore the map, and I'm eagerly awaiting your comments in the discussion thread.


NEW IN BETA 4

FIXED: Missing reception floor area (thanks tehkasl)
FIXED: Replaced some trigger_once doors with trigger_multiple
Removed some vitrified doors, replaced with better ones.
Large amounts of detail work, reworking of some areas
Very large area has been made larger (!)
Visibility optimisation
Tweaked fog controller



NEW IN BETA 3

FIXED: Non-Solid railings
Tweaked fog controller some more
Completely new start area
Fire! and moving things!
Liberally added Areaportals and HINT brushes


*** NEW IN BETA 2

FIXED: Dissappearing wall bug
Tweaked fog controller (still needs more tweaking)

File Name: moth03_beta4.zip
File Size: 18.6 MiB
Click here to download [BETA 4] A very Aperture adventure

A very nice exploration map with some great attention to detail, but its riddled with bugs. I've atttached a demo that should show all of the bugs I found.

Most of them can be fixed with advanced compile and some more clipping. The fog was alright, but It would defiantly be better if you used gobal_ents. Send an output to the instance with BTS on or something. Heres the demo: (I noclip alot in it.)

Thanks very much, I will take a look at the demo as soon as I figure out the console command for doing so...

The console command is playdemo.

Ah fankoo. Does it need to go in /demos ?

No, just put it in: computer > Local Disk > Program Files(x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > portal2 > portal2. (Note: You will only have Program Files (x86) if you have 86 bit windows.)

OK I've watched it. Thanks for taking the time to point these things out. I'll start work on beta2 immediately.

Watching you carry those cubes for ages, then realising they were of no use whatsoever was hugely funny.

It could be very nice to have animation. I have seen many tube, but nothing in.

OK, next beta is incoming, with tube stuff!!
Can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial for making moving objects fly through vac tubes? I've been experimenting with func_wind brushes, but it didn't seem to work.

This is very impressive, I really like it.

I did notice a glitch around the big office area, one of the walls kept disappearing/reappearing. I didn't get a screenshot, I'll try to next time I play it.

Oooh, a bts map! Those were my favorite bits of the game! It's very interesting, and I can't wait to see you flesh it out.
It was a bit buggy, though. I was on the second floor, and what I believed to be a transport pipe wasn't showing for me, all I could see were the cubes and balls going through it.
And were the laser cubes supposed to fizzle when you pressed a button for a new one? I-I got bored and made a mountain of them...
And I really hate to be nitpicky, but some of the vitrified doors did have an odd/unrealistic placement. The ones on the opposite side of the starting room of the level are what come to mind.
But I really can't wait to see where this goes! Keep up the great work!

PLEASE be as nit-picky as you like!! I too am a nit-picky person, and I appreciate comments like this HUGELY, as immersion and realism are what I'm going for here. Consider the vitrified doors up for review. I shall create an area especially for them where they'll look better.

The 'disaapearing wall' trick is an unwanted effect of my lazy fast VIS compile, So I'm doing a full one right now, and by the time you read this, I'll have updated to beta2. beta3 is coming soon after, since after this compile I can get on with sorting those doors...

Keep the comments coming please.

Ah! Okay! Sorry, I just see a lot of potential in this map.
Maybe consider adding some rubble to the opening test chamber for some added realism? It did feel kind of odd starting off in such an empty room. Maybe some girders or fallen panels would do?
And I did clip through a railing in the bts portion. I believe it was near the factory door behind the main lobby. It was closer to the right. When I'm done with university for the day I'll test it out again and show you where it's located.
But I can't wait to see this! And are you going to be able to explore the test chambers in later builds?

Most definitely! The plan is for this first map to feature offices and a sort of 'fringe' area - huge elevators, server farms, admin, etc. I'm planning a twist, for the second map (after this one) will 'peek back' into some of this maps areas, following a series of tests inside the very same test chambers that are visible in THIS map. Hope that makes sense.

Beta 2 is now uploaded. Please check it out.

Liking the added fog in beta 2! Looks much better.
Here's a video with that clipping issue with the railing I was talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhHi2Mwowo

Sorry about how choppy the video is. The program I used to record it sucks.

I really like the new opening area!
I'm having a problem with a lot of the new doors, though. They seem to lock after the first time they open, so if I walk past one while checking out an area and it opens as a pass it, I'll be screwed since it'll lock on me.
Also, these
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/7656 ... 0009036917

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/7656 ... 0009035748

Thanks man!
I've just released Beta 4 and have addressed the first issue above, but can't seem to find the area in your second pic. Can you let me know if it's still there in this latest release?

I've gone bit crazy with the detail, and I hope you like it. Looking forward to reading feedback...

Very nice stuff Moth. Other than a little work on ambience it looks fantastic!

Wow! a comment from the famous chickenmobile!

I would welcome any suggestions you may have regarding ambience, lighting and sounds, etc.

My VMF is included, this is very much an open source project, my only request is help me with it and further maps

I'm looking for suggestions as to what should go in the vast pog pit between the test chambers. I'm thinking a test of some kind, possibly involving flying spheres very much like the coop bts.

Found a couple bugs. My main suggestions are to put invisible walls around the scaffolds. You can get on top of almost every single one of them, whihc allows you to go to lots of different place you shouldn't be able to go.

RufusThorne wrote:
Wow! a comment from the famous chickenmobile!

Me? Famous? I just post a lot on this forum. Darren and Jacob told me to check out your map anyway.

As for ambience tips: try decompiling and seeing what env_soundscapes Valve used when you were walking around old aperture. Obviously when you are indoors try looking for ambience you would find indoors. If there's nothing you would like to use, try making your own soundscape. It is relatively easy and you can practically just copy and paste code from other soundscape files.

Geodomes in the distance would be great, I know that the models for them are absolutely huge, so choose carefully where you put them (they also come with supports, don't forget to put them in). Also by putting them in, you'll have to change your fog to show more distance.

DO you mean replacing of the cube chambers with geospheres? That's quite an interesting idea, which I will experiment with.

RufusThorne wrote:
DO you mean replacing of the cube chambers with geospheres? That's quite an interesting idea, which I will experiment with.

Well if it is old aperture bts they used geodomes instead of boxes didn't they?

That was in the 40s through to the late 60s, early 70s right? In Portal2 sp, I'm sure that the big square chambers were built immediately on top of Test Shaft 9. Hmm, you might be right.. I'm going to have to put some thought into this.

Perhaps geodomes immediately below the existing chambers, with some kind of see-through transition seal to show the stark difference between old and new?