I was originally going to release Mobius as one big map, but it ended up getting a bit laggy in hammer, and difficult to work with while I was only 1/5 of the way done. I am going to split Mobius into separate parts, this being chamber 1. Chamber 1 consists of 8 subchambers, (seperate little test chambers,) and 2 escape opportunities. Subchambers 1-5 are pretty straight forward, but the last 3 are a bit harder. Subchamber 6 will probably kill you the first time; just a head's up. When I complete all the maps, I will update them so if you have all of them, they will link to each other allowing you to play through all the chambers without loading a new map manually. Mobius will also have 3 different endings! You can go through the tests like a good subject, or escape in pursuit of knowledge or vengeance.

And again, I'm still a pretty novice mapper. Any constructive criticism would be much appreciated. Have fun!

File Name: Mobius_Chamber_1 by Killerblonde.zip
File Size: 1.6 MiB
Click here to download Mobius Chamber 1

Chamber one: if you don't take the cube, you're trapped.

Have you tried placing a portal under the cube to bring it up to you?

EDIT: Sorry for the lack of indicator lights BTW, I'll look up how to add those and stick them in the next map.

Chamber 8: light cube got blue gel on it and got away and disappeared in lower chamber, no respawn...stuck.

I had a water dispenser in case the cube did get painted, but I don't know how it could dissapear.... unless you mean you couldn't get it to bounce back up or something. I've never had that problem before to be honest. I'll see what I can do.

Way too many ways to get stuck or be unable to complete the chambers. I got stuck in at least 3 subchambers and had to use cheats to get free.

very nice map, indeed. subchambers 6 and 7 took me quite a while (which is a good thing). also, didn't know that there were escapes, gonna look for them now. i like the size of the maps a lot, quite a difference to most other maps with huge jumps and stuff. kinda claustrophobic. good job.

EDIT: okay, i found one of the two ways out. well done. it was the one with the GOTCHA!

can you give a hint where the other one might be?

Average workmanship and no memorable puzzles, ranging from banal to calamity - whose idea was Subchamber 6? Very easy to get stuck, i.e. putting the cube on the round dispenser and jumping down. Needs some brilliant idea to turn it around.

Yeah putting the cube on the circle button and then portalling above does trap you... I really haven't been able to think of something to get around that that would make sense. (Possibly making a clip in the shape of a pyramid so the cube would slide off, but that would be pretty dumb....) I take the workmanship being average as a compliment though. Most of my maps end up getting very sloppy, especially with my repeated sin of carving. When you say "who's idea was subchamber 6", are you implying that I stole it from someone? Because I really didn't. I threw random elements together, and then starting working backwards with inputs, and finally tested it to see if it was possible. I seriously didn't steal it from anyone, unless I'm bipolar or something like that. (Give me credit, damn you! -other self)

The size of the chambers was controlled strictly. I set up the rooms, and then squeezed a test into each of them. Chamber 2 will have bigger chambers, but also all the same size. I will also add more BTS stuff to explore.

As requested, I'll give you a hint for the other way out. Technically, there is no 'way out', as no matter which was you go the AI just shoves you back into the chamber.


Below are 2 hints for each escape, the second hint being the exact subchamber it is located in.

Look behind a panel
subchamber 4

This panel is asking for you to jump into it
subchamber 5


And on another note, I do have a few 'brilliant' ideas to make the map... better. I'm going to have different endings depending on which path you take, and try to convey a storyline through the AI messages you see with the game_text entities. This was a big step up from the first map I made, you must agree!

Killerblonde wrote:
I seriously didn't steal it

I didn't mean anything like that, rest easy

if you jump through the hole when the panel raises to expose the bouncy cube you get caught by the panel as it lowers and it traps you...

not sure what is actually triggering it to raise..

Was pretty good, ended up getting stuck from a random insane bouncefest and taking the back way out of the room with the blue gel and the button in the ceiling. and died a lot on the next one... but was fun. Looking forward to the next.

2nd playthrough my reflection cube got stuck in the cube dropper, for some reason it didn't fall before the door closed on it and it was stuck, destroying the weighted cube made it spawn a new one but wouldn't push the reflection cube out of the way.

I can't really say much about this map, except it seems to set all of portals control issues up against me. I get in weird jump loops because of blue gel, I get stuck behind retracting panels, I get blue gel on a cube and it jumps up in the gel dispenser and stays there...
A lot of needless stuff seems to get in my way and kills me, and not because I did something wrong in the puzzle solving process, but because I accidentially stood in the wrong place and stuff like that.

Visuals seem descent.

Yeah, a few of those glitches you mentioned I have no idea how to fix... getting stuck behind panels happen much less however, it used to be every single time the elevator panel opened you would fall through it. Fixed it kinda sloppily, but it works better now. (Used an invisible door to bounce the player up so the panel 'catches' them.)

The cube dropping glitch I thought I fixed. I gave it a delay of 3 seconds, the two cubes should not get stuck, and they drop straight down. Interesting glitch right there.... however it would be semi realistic to have something go wrong in a chamber, and then because there aren't any employees anymore, you are trapped and starve to death in a broken chamber. That would be major un-fun though.

I'm quickly learning how to make my maps better! Oh yeah, the lack of observation rooms was semi-intentional. I was too lazy to put any in, but I have a good reason that goes with the storyline I'm attempting to put together.

I'm glad someone is looking forward to my next map! Not that I am or anything.....

Got stuck early on in the first chamber with the blue gel. Why aren't the gels visible on surfaces? That was really annoying.

Invisible gels on surfaces? I've never had that problem before. It must be your computer only, sorry. Speaking of which, do you get a wierd gel glitch I described at http://forums.thinking.withportals.com/viewthread-t3027.html, or is that another bug on my computer only?

Killerblonde wrote:
Invisible gels on surfaces? I've never had that problem before. It must be your computer only, sorry. Speaking of which, do you get a wierd gel glitch I described at http://forums.thinking.withportals.com/viewthread-t3027.html, or is that another bug on my computer only?

My computer only? Well, in response to that, I must say that I have been playing a LOT of custom Portal 2 maps lately and ONLY your map had this issue. You can see what I mean about it not being visible if you check out this video of me broadcasting it live: http://www.justin.tv/vertigoelectric/b/287254456 . It is around the 18:00 mark that I am playing your map and discover this issue.

If you continue watching you'll find that I gave up in the next room. Perhaps I gave up too early, but at that point I figured the map was faulty so I didn't bother wasting my time. I'll probably give it another shot if you can watch the video and just tell me that I was doing it wrong... then I may try again and figure out why my mistake was... until then, I just consider it bugged or faulty.

All in all, great design, though.

Alright, I watched what you filmed on my portal map. I have no clue what is making the gel invisible. It seems that the gel color issue isn't just my machine, so I'll have to work on that. I will add indicator lights into the next map to make it easier to solve puzzles. Standing on the button openes the panel above the cube in that chamber. (I know I should have made it more obvious, I will work on that in the next map.) I have no idea why the gels aren't appearing on the surfaces. Also, when you (or anyone) goes through that portal that made the arm glitch for a second, I can't figure out what is making it glitch either; the only trigger for it is the floor button. Maybe going through the portal makes ur body temporarely touch the button or something.... I'll try to make the next map more stable and fun to play. Sorry about that! I've said this before, but I'm just the newb!

Killerblonde wrote:
Standing on the button openes the panel above the cube in that chamber.

I just watched my broadcast again, and I realize that I had completely forgotten about the button above the cube after I had tested it once. Had I remembered it, I would have figured it out. I was tired and had been playing so many maps, I guess I just became absent-minded. Still, though, it's always a bit more confusing when you press a button and have no way of really seeing what it's doing. Indicator lights would be a great addition in this case.

I will complete your map, and submit a video of me doing so. I try broadcasting all of the maps I play. I'm thinking of providing a video to each author whose map I play. That would be fun.

Also got stuck (as in cant move) at chamber 3 @ animated panel. Didn't understand what caused the panel to reveal the cube - stopped playin after that.

I definately WILL be putting indicator lights into the next map in the series. I will also be seeing if I can put in a normal test elevator, instead of my glitchy wierd elevator panels. I have been gathering ideas for the next chamber as well. Expect it to be longer, harder, and much more improved. If I don't have it done by July, then I won't have it done by late July or early August. Sorry about that, but I will get to work!

EDIT: Mobius probably won't be continued. I've evolved as a mapper, so I'd prefer to leave it behind. Maybe I will redo it one of these day. If anyone wants to take my name 'Mobius' for any of their maps, (it is pretty cool,) feel free to.

subchamber 3, i drop down on the panel it opens up and i fall on the cube then it closes down behind me, trapped with nothing else to do, thus cant continue.