Surrounded by the constellations as your arrive at Far-Range Exploratory Envoy and Distant Object Moorage (F.R.E.E.D.O.M.), the stars will be your guide through humankind's most ambitious voyage into space

EDIT: It seems like there is an identified bug whereby a vital cube is missing from the final chamber. There should be a cube already in place in the central funnel-changing machine. Until I can make a fix available, you may have to noclip to hit the buttons yourself as a workaround.

File Name: cancer_rc2.zip
File Size: 9.31 MiB
Click here to download constellation:Cancer

Aesthetics
It seems that this map started out life as a PTI creation. The mapper has spent a lot of time adding in details in Hammer, but you can sense the PTI origins in some places where the wall panels are in need of more texture variation. There were nice sections of detailing in the last puzzle - I particularly liked the moving pistons, and the power cables and scaffolding around the excursion funnel. Strangely, next to the funnel emitter there was a huge, low resolution triangle texture - what was that about?

The lighting doesn't get in your way but it doesn't make the map look especially beautiful either.

Gameplay and Difficulty
The map was divided into three sections, increasing in difficulty as the players progress. Puzzles were medium difficulty - there's quite a few elements to play with and it's not immediately obvious what you have to do. I thought the map could benefit from some more signage or clever lighting to direct the player's attention: I missed a few hard-to-see passages while playing the map.

When I got to the third puzzle, I managed to turn on the '1 dot' button but then struggled to achieve anything else. I saw that there was a cube I had to aquire but I couldn't get the excursion funnel to take me there. After 45 minutes of playing the map, I became frustrated and gave up. I'll definitely have to revisit the puzzle, because there's a lot going on here - I didn't even get to play with the funnel-direction-choosing machine! I'd still say it was medium difficulty - I think I just struggled because of the number of elements in the chamber.

Bugs and Mapping Details
* I noticed that the rotating fan was slightly off-centre
The sphere and myself fell through the turret builder, which was missing some robotic arms
The space skybox was poorly done. It was obvious that I was looking at the inside of a box rather than out into space.
The star labels confused me - I had no idea what they were for. Towards the end of the map, I realised that the stars corresponded to locks on the final door before the eleveator.
In the room with the vertical orange fizzler, there was a pedestal button with no indication of what it did
* In the final puzzle, there was a '1 dot' icon next to a button, but I couldn't see a '2 dots' icon leading me onwards. If you wanted to attract the player's attention, using different lighting to highlight the button might be more successful.

Was there supposed to be a cube in the caged are of the third puzzle. I see buttons clearly marked for changing the polarity of the funnel, but I don't see any way of getting something in there. Also the button for the box dropper in the same room only works once.

Yeah, there should be. It shows up for me -- weird it's not there for you...does it appear if you reload or load a saved game?

I restarted, noclipped to that room, and it's still empty.
image
cancer_rc20000.jpg

I didn't have a cube in there either; I thought I had go find one else where and put it in the cage. That probably explains why I got so stuck!

I actually completed this map without anything in there.

/me = glitchorific?

EDIT: I can't reproduce this issue. I tried downloading the file from this site and running as well as playing the workshop version -- I always see the cube. Even after recompiling the file, the cube is still there for me.

When you guys first enter the third chamber, before doing anything else, is the cube there at that time? If no, if you noclip directly from the entrance to the chamber, is the cube there?

If after that, you're still missing the cube, I can try deleting it in Hammer and re-inserting it and upload that version to the workshop. Not sure what else to try...

My feedback:
Do not read if you are judge!


I liked this map. The first few puzzles I thought showed intuitive and even though your chamber is clean-themed, it was interesting and I never saw a dull wall / area.

The only drawback I believe would be the last puzzle. It looked like you had designed it in the PTI editor and then brought it into hammer. There was indicators everywhere and a lot of the elements in there did not make much sense (plus there was 2 unused buttons in the middle which did noting and was unreachable). The last puzzle took me most of the time I played through.

This was a good above average map for me. Well done

I agree with ChickenMobile's assessment and the only thing I wanted to add was this unintended solution to the last chamber puzzle: above the cube is a ledge with a portalable wall. Get up there, slowly fall off the edge and push the direction key towards the ledge where the cube is located. Put it on the button, and you're done. No need for the sphere nor the missing cube in the funnel direction changer.

My playthrough:

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RogerL wrote:
I agree with ChickenMobile's assessment and the only thing I wanted to add was this unintended solution to the last chamber puzzle: above the cube is a ledge with a portalable wall. Get up there, slowly fall off the edge and push the direction key towards the ledge where the cube is located. Put it on the button, and you're done. No need for the sphere nor the missing cube in the funnel direction changer.

Wasn't that how you were meant to do it?

Right then, I had fun solving that last puzzle, but mostly because I felt I could bypass and break the intended solution.

But to start at the beginning (I really must start recording my playthrough's) I think I budged every puzzle, not getting to the intended solution, but getting there none the less

part 1 I could portal high on the wall at the sphere dropper and catch the sphere before it got launched, didn't need the button or the wall panel.
I did fall into the robot assembly machine and had to restart, liked the viewing area but I felt it did not had to be part of a test chamber; it should have been a "hidden" observation room, the reward for finding it for the player would be the stunning view.

part 2 again I think I did not do what was intended... I did not use the areal plate, the blue funnel, and its button to get to the solution
If you use the blue funnel and have a cube on its button I fear you are stuck and have to restart the level... Also if you move cube 2 and you let it drop in the hole after the lasers it will be stuck forever and you have to restart, same if you fall in there
Some more indicators would have been nice, it took me some time to notice the button switched off the force-fields.

part 3, I did not have the cube in the case to change beam polarity, I actually thought it was open on top and that I needed a cube there so I started testing. I manged to get the sphere very soon and again in a way I think was unintended I used the blue funnel on the 45 degree angle, got out to land on the platform where the button for the sphere was, jumped after the sphere and caught it before it could fizzle, it was easy then to get it to the door
To get the other cube was not easy, but I managed to use the blue funnel and some hopping between beams to finally get it.

Again solved without using half the kit provided in the room, that areal plate was a nasty surprise, as it killed me first time (red lasers). The first time I got my sphere at the door using the funnel it fizzled without warning, not sure why but I hand carried the kit afterwards to make sure it would not happen again.

Nice set of maps, but your puzzles had too many loopholes, still fun to solve but for the wrong reasons I think. Indicators and clarity really could do with some work.

Scoring... well.. I had some fun, like I said to try and break your puzzles, and felt good when I pulled it off, but hmm... enjoyable as it was, compared with others in the completion I would have to give it a 3.4

I loved this long, multiple-room map.
I do not - however - understand how you could possibly NOT have a cube in the cage of the 3rd room ?
I mean - not only is it the most glaring oversight ever . . . you said you would fix it but I just replayed the map fresh and it is still not there. How could this happen ? Was there really a cube in there ? Or is it just that you wished you coded it that way in retrospect ? I just don't see how you could have forgotten to put the cube in there. Makes no sense.

Aside from that this is an excellent effort.

Your map is great !
Just the last room, you can finish fast.
Here the video of the 3rd room

http://youtu.be/_BZLM3Eca5Y