From the 2nd place winner of the October contest, and creator of Motanum's Test 01, comes... Motanum's Main Four!

This map has 4 chambers in one! Go through 4 chambers will trying to close a laser circuit to open up the exit!

Good luck!

Read me file for more information!

-Lag at light bridge is out of my hand. Ie, nothing to be done in hammer. Sorry
-In some rare cases source recorder can crash the game

This map took me over a month to do, and at the end, I think it is quite impressive!

Instances used are the official, but I modified the brightness. If you really want my modified instances, then send me an email at eugenio.motanum91 AT gmail.com

You can get more info on where to find me/follow me on the read me file inside the Rar.

So, what are you waiting here? Go press the download button, spread the word AND don't forget to rate it!

File Name: Motanums Main Four.rar
File Size: 4.95 MiB
Click here to download [SP] Motanum's Main Four

I placed the .bsp in the right folder but the map cannot be found by the console (I had no problem playing "Motanum's Test 01")

I've played alot of custom maps but I've noticed that every so often I come across a map that I just cannot get to work. Do you have any ideas?

there is not apostrophe,, so just try "map mota" and it should show up. The name of the file is mota_main_four. Ie, not motanum.

This is a pretty good map! Good luck with the contest!

No I know, I typed in the correct name, it just doesnt come up.

Well, other people don't have that problem, so what I would do is to double check you placed it in the right folder. The proper file.

Fantastic. Really, really high quality scenery in here. Valve quality. And the puzzles themselves were quite clever, it took me a few circuits around the 4 before I realized what I was supposed to be looking for. This took you a month? Yeah, it shows. I hope I can aspire to make maps this good.

One slight issue, though. You might want to add little railings to the far side of the target-arrival platforms from the faith plates. On more than one occasion (on the 4th fling back to the first puzzle), the momentum from the faith plate pushed me right off the edge and I fell to my death. And since the autosave kicks in when you land, I kept reloading only to fly off the edge, repeatedly. I was able to get it after a few quickloads from before, by holding S as I was being flung, that seemed to cancel just enough of my momentum to stop safely.

But really, on a map this gorgeous, such a minor flaw is merely a footnote. Excellent work, you've really got a talent for this. Hope to see more maps of this level of worldbuilding.

Excellent map. Very funny to jump through the 4 chambers solving the puzzles and connecting everything... I really enjoyed solving your map, man!

Wait your next developments!

Thanks for being there creating for players!

Ingenious and elaborated, with good choice of dark colours and vistas. Emphasis on navigation might leave unsatisfied: flow is smooth, but the goal of each chamber is just reaching a point.

It would have been nice to make players themselves rotate and align the cubes with the lasers on, for some crazy rays swinging around. The level bugged on me twice: the cubes inside the little cages were slightly unaligned the first time (like a laser missing one for 3 inches); so I run the level again, this time the redirection worked but the dotted line for the exit remained green.

It is just that with so many cubes, I was afraid player would be able to rotate them in unwanted ways. So for now, I went easy.

I am amazed with the laser missing. The only time it happened was in early beta, when players used paint or funnels to move the cubes.

Also, I do not remember anywhere where I used green! Do you have a picture? That is weird....

Green or light blue, I meant the color of inactive dotted lines.

I'm so lost at this light bridge part. I'm starting to think I skipped a really important part. I can't figure it out for the life of me. I skipped the part with the speed gel by just jumping on the trust fling. Was I supposed to do that?

raulness wrote:
I'm so lost at this light bridge part. I'm starting to think I skipped a really important part. I can't figure it out for the life of me. I skipped the part with the speed gel by just jumping on the trust fling. Was I supposed to do that?

||Being careful here as I'm not sure what folks might consider "spoiler", but FWIW ... I felt like I made significant progress in the light bridge room even without having fully solved the speed gel room. I'll stop with that statement, but will post more if you want.

The final step in the speed gel room I just haven't figured out, though ...||

I'm stuck, can't crack part of this puzzle ...

In the propulsion gel level, I'm trying to activate that high button. If I could get propulsion gel over the entire floor of top level, I think a fling using the angled wall on the end would get to the button. However, try as I might, with every trick I can think of, I can't make the propulsion gel land on the white (portal-able) part of the floor, and so I can't build up enough speed.

Would appreciate the most minimal hint you can give ...

Thanks,
K

Kinketsu wrote:
I'm stuck, can't crack part of this puzzle ...

||In the propulsion gel level, I'm trying to activate that high button. If I could get propulsion gel over the entire floor of top level, I think a fling using the angled wall on the end would get to the button. However, try as I might, with every trick I can think of, I can't make the propulsion gel land on the white (portal-able) part of the floor, and so I can't build up enough speed.

Would appreciate the most minimal hint you can give ...||

Thanks,
K

Okay, first of all, the 4 chambers are independent. They can be solved individually, but all 4 need to be solved to reach the exit.

Now, about the speed gel chamber

Spoiler 1, just a clue - You do not need speed gel on the other side of the fizzler, ie the side of where the switch is

Spoiler 2, another clue - Try using the ground floor where the switched are

Spoiler 3, solution - You place a portal on the ground, then use the gel to fling up in the air and while in the air, place a portal on the angled surface and you should make it to the button.

raulness wrote:
I'm so lost at this light bridge part. I'm starting to think I skipped a really important part. I can't figure it out for the life of me. I skipped the part with the speed gel by just jumping on the trust fling. Was I supposed to do that?

You can travel through all 4 chambers to your like, but you need to solve all 4 to be able to reach the exit.

Very nice chambers, fairly impegnative. Loved the idea of the laser who travel through all the 4 chambers.

My only regret is the exit. Maybe is not clear, i lost some time for find that..

Motanum wrote:
raulness wrote:

I'm so lost at this light bridge part. I'm starting to think I skipped a really important part. I can't figure it out for the life of me. I skipped the part with the speed gel by just jumping on the trust fling. Was I supposed to do that?

You can travel through all 4 chambers to your like, but you need to solve all 4 to be able to reach the exit.

Seems like I'm stuck then. There was no way out of that lightbridge room at all.

Using your steam account, post a screen shot where you are stuck so others can give you some hints on what you might want to try next.

raulness wrote:
Seems like I'm stuck then. There was no way out of that lightbridge room at all.

It took me a while to consider it, but it is possible to walk on a tilted beam. I didn't even try it at firsr thinking that I'd probably slide off it.. but nah.. Why is the light beam tilted anyway?

gurcrist wrote:
raulness wrote:

Seems like I'm stuck then. There was no way out of that lightbridge room at all.

It took me a while to consider it, but it is possible to walk on a tilted beam. I didn't even try it at firsr thinking that I'd probably slide off it.. but nah.. Why is the light beam tilted anyway?

So you can gain height with the bridge and be able to go through deadly pits.

Motanum wrote:
Kinketsu wrote:

I'm stuck, can't crack part of this puzzle ...

Would appreciate the most minimal hint you can give ...

Thanks,
K

Okay, first of all, the 4 chambers are independent. They can be solved individually, but all 4 need to be solved to reach the exit.

Now, about the speed gel chamber

Spoiler 1, just a clue ...

Motanum,

Awesome map! Thanks for perfect response to my questions ... I'm pleased to say that 'Spoiler 1' changed my preconceptions and woke me up enough to find a solution. Then I read 'Spoiler 3' and interestingly I think my solution might be different ...

||Once on the second side, I placed one portal at ground level and another on the angled surface. I climbed into the ground-level portal to walk out on the angled surface. From there I could shoot a portal through the hole back over to the first side; I did so and climbed through. This left a portal on the angled surface on the second side. I used the long run of propulsion gel on the first side to fling out through the angled surface on the second side ... and went perfectly to the button.

When I read your solution it sounded like you meant it could all be accomplished on the second side ... if that's true I certainly didn't manage to make it happen.||

Thanks again for the great map and perfectly-crafted response to my plea for help.

Cheers,
K

Great map - I've been sampling a few maps from twp over the last month or so (after rattling for a portal fix post completion) and yours was the one which prompted me to register for the forums so I could rate and thank - so thanks!

I think the map has a pleasantly epic feel to it, and when you twig what's going on it's satisfying. However, I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling a little lost - especially when you can fling out of rooms before completing their puzzle.

If the circuit of rooms were more clearly signalled from the main chamber (the one with the exit), perhaps making use of repetition or the numbering dot tiles, it would ease the understanding and make players persist past the initial confusion. And put some bright exciting stuff around the exit to make it clear that's your goal!

Loved the angled light beam mechanic - very neat - and the need to intersect and switch funnels in the large room was a slick new trick.

Thanks for a great contribution, and good luck in the comp. Already looking forward to your next.

Peem

Another excellent map, thank you! Nice use of standard P2 elements and a challenging puzzle. Well done. Thanks for creating.

I noticed a clipping issue in the fourth room. You can land on this tiny brush and not fall, but be hopelessly stuck. I'm assuming it's either a misaligned brush, or some detailing that needs to have a clip brush added to it.

Your giant open areas look pretty okay, but they manage to fall flat for a few reasons. You have the maximum draw distance and fog distance really short, so you can't see any test chambers or areas off in the distance. Your scaffolding seems to all be simple brushes with nothing really interesting on them, like truss models or the exterior panel models used in vast quantities like in the retail game.

Gameplay wise, it was a really interesting use of lasers, and I like the idea of using fixed reflectocubes to navigate the player through a series of tests.

Love the map, but there is many problems I noticed:

-It's hard to paint in orange, because the paint don't fall straight.

-I didn't use the blue paint in the last room, I only pop 4 portals.

-When I pop a portal to use the blue light bridge I've a HUGE lag for 2 sec (I've a 4870X2 and i7 920 so the problem is not here)

-Depent where I'm, sometime I can't see the other part of the map when I look through holes where the laser go (it's just black)

KouKaracHa wrote:
Love the map, but there is many problems I noticed:

-It's hard to paint in orange, because the paint don't fall straight.

I wanted the player to mess around with figuring out how t place the portals.

KouKaracHa wrote:
-I didn't use the blue paint in the last room, I only pop 4 portals.

That i interesting, can you make a video or take pictures? I don't really see the big picture

KouKaracHa wrote:
-When I pop a portal to use the blue light bridge I've a HUGE lag for 2 sec (I've a 4870X2 and i7 920 so the problem is not here)

-Depent where I'm, sometime I can't see the other part of the map when I look through holes where the laser go (it's just black)

I couldn't solve the lag issue with the bridge, and the "black holes" are ways of minimising what the computer renders, as to try to solve the issue. Unfortunately, anything I did did not help, and I was so near the deadline that making to redesign the puzzle for that chamber was out of the question.

I liked it, but it wasnt at all obvious where the exit is. I cycled through the chambers after completion three or four times before finding it- make it big and obvious, or at least visible from the entrance to the chamber its in.

Also, the chamber with the orange gel:
i spent ages in the room on the other side of the fizzler, because the wall shape so closely matched that of the one as you leave the underground i never realised there was another way to do it. I ended up spending ages tring to get enough gel in for a good speed-up to fling. Remove the vertical portalable panels and people might get it easier.

Pretty cool looking chamber, I thought it seemed kind of boring in that all you do is run around hitting buttons. Nonetheless, I can tell you put a lot of work into it and it is a really well-made map.

Also, some people are saying that it was confusing at points. I'm not sure if that was in previous versions or something, but I never got stuck not being able to find something or not knowing where to go on my playthrough. I think it was clear enough without being glaringly obvious - exploring the map is a big part of the excitement.

Nice map. I enjoyed playing it. After reading others comments, I too agree that one has to spend time trying to get the orange(speed) gel to make a nice path. Nevertheless, I had fun solving this problem. In the one chamber that was interesting, making the light bridge slightly twisted had me feeling a bit awkward--which maybe that's the feeling you were really trying to create. If so, good job. However due to the lighting (lack thereof) I did not easily see that I could just jump up and off towards the level with the aerial plate. Suggest adding a little tiny bit of lighting so the player does not see the light bridge as going into a wall. Maybe it's my monitor but I had to walk down the light bridge before I understood that I was not just running into a black wall.
I think your dimensions of chambers and use of aerial plates were good and fun. I hope to see more maps. + Again, thanks for the fun.
Eastward

Great Map!

I had fun solving each room but I can't find the exit. Each room has a yellow tick box but I have no idea where to go now. After doing several laps I have given up

EDIT:

Persistence pays. I found it in the end:

In room with the blue floaty beam thingy there is a trap door that opens, just fall down

this map is one of my favourites... it makes ppl think without trying too hard to throw the player off and run a wild goose chase. the angled light bridge was brilliant, great use of it...

I'm playing custom maps and record my first time of playing them. So the run is not perfect and may not use only intended ways, but maybe it can let you see how other people may understand the map or you could just enjoy someone playing this map for entertainment.
Anyways, here is the recording:

d5AN8NNWkN4
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5AN8NNWkN4)

Also note the video description for more feedback and my signature for additional project information.

Great map. I loved that the chambers could be solved in any order!

That was a tough but good puzzle. The first time I was about to solve I managed to get one of the blocks crooked. I'm assuming this happened when I threw some blue gel at it, but not 100% sure.

In the four rooms when you launch yourself back to room 1 your player tends to slide a bit past the target and falls to her death.

I made a video walkthrough of this Portal 2 Custom Map:
Q0dzKhwyXkI

Thanks for the videos guys!

Your puzzle was excellent. I enjoyed use of multiple chambers. I also felt the exit wasn't as obvious as it could have been. I recalled seeing the exit before finishing the puzzle, making it easy for me to find, but I can see how it would be troublesome. Otherwise, I thought it was really well done. Took me a bit to figure out the propulsion gel puzzle, and I thought the end result was gratifying. Thanks for the test.

I enjoyed the map very much except that hard jumping on gel in the last chamber. The overall feel is great though. A fresh and unique idea, my thumbs up.

Motanum's Main Four Playthrough

3tNixTY5Xd8

Was a great map, inventive, and had a great flow. Was challenging but not smash your face on the desk challenging. One thing that I didn't care for was the exit. The trap door was a good idea but when you solve the puzzle in another room you don't know that anything has opened or even changed. I solved the puzzle pretty quickly and spent 20 minutes running around wondering what the hell was going on. Put a sign next to it in my opinion. . Other than that so far my favorite player designed SP map!!

Excellent map, I have played a previous version, and now this version (though I think I missed the changes you made. oops... heh...)

Anyway, my only bug I have found, and this seems to be true with a lot of pops with redirection cubes in glass enclosures and repulsion gel, is that the player can place repulsion gel on the ground the box sits, which then leaks into the box's enclosure and makes the redirection cube bounce in the glass enclosed, which, for your level, does not help when the player needs that beam to stay in place, as well as aligned. I am really no map builder though, so I don't really know how to fix this, but maybe make the floor the box sits on glass? Or an entire glass box, not just 5 sides i mean. I dunno.

Anyway, still an excellent map, and I finish it!

And in case you need a picture reference for the gel leak, you can find it here. Sorry for the bad angle of the screen shot, but I think you get what I mean. Let me know if you have any questions for me.

Nice visuals and everything. Thank you!

Nice map. It was a little challenging, but when I finally figured it out, I didn't think "That was really hard.."
One glitch I have found (and apparently a few others) is that you can paint the cubes that are in glass. In the chamber right after the speed gel one, putting a portal on the wall behind the blue gel dispenser and standing on the button puts just enough onto the cube to paint it. This causes it to bounce around inside the little glass case and make the laser go all over the place. The only way I could fix it without restarting the level was turning on cheats, spawning an erase paint bomb, and then noclipping into the glass case to realign the cube (which wasn't easy because there isn't enough room to really be in the case with the cube).

Other than that, it was a very clever level.

Seeing that there are some issues with the gel in the cubes: why don't you add water in your level?
95% of the levels with blue gel do need water too to prevent bugs glitches and other annoying things
One other idea is to fill the insides of the cubes with a trigger_paint_cleanser so the paint will just disappear inside the cube thereby solving this problem!

On the map itself: very interesting! Good looks and rather long: 4/5 great!

Seeing that there are some issues with the gel in the cubes: why don't you add water in your level?
95% of the levels with blue gel do need water too to prevent bugs glitches and other annoying things
One other idea is to fill the insides of the cubes with a trigger_paint_cleanser so the paint will just disappear inside the cube thereby solving this problem!

On the map itself: very interesting! Good looks and rather long: 4/5 great!

Hey was playing your map and in the third room (First Blue Gel Room), I was able to hit the laser cube just to the right of the entrance to the room with some gel which made it turn just a bit to be unable to complete the circuit

I found this map to be very disorienting. I got stuck in the forth chamber, unsure of how to get out. And I got there without actually solving anything in the other chambers. I guess I found it frustrating because it wasn't very clear what you had to do next. I'm all fine with the challenge of how to do what's next...that's the whole point of the game... but when you spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do next, it becomes tiresome and I'll quickly resort to no_clip. It's a cool concept, but the gameplay I found to be unvalve-ish. Reading this thread I can see that others didn't have my problem so I assume it's just that my brain is getting old...lol.

Angled bridge was creative, made me smile after solving.

I found a small bug - if you die in last chamber (the one with exit door in it) after whole loop then you are respawned on jumper landing platform with some momentum and immediately fall down again.

Great map! Got me thinking for a good half an hour, and great attention to detail!