A Portal 2 singleplayer map with a penchant for articulating lasers in interesting ways.

New in v1.2
- Made it so the player can't access the laser area in the first room through the entrance in the top.
- Made the button required to open the last door a regular floor button so the cube requires manual placement.
- Added a fizzler and extended corridor to final door so the turrets are sure to kill the player if he hasn't destroyed them.
- Removed some LoS blockers that stopped the turrets detecting the players earlier.
- Removed the ability to switch directions on the tractor beam as it was confusing to players.
- Made it impossible to jump from the podium into the tractor beam.

File Name: laser_articulation_v1.2.zip
File Size: 1.2?MiB
Laser Articulation

Not bad, but I dont understand the title. The laser isnt really used in any interesting way, and you can actually solve the puzzle pretty easily without ever touching the laser. Just use the funnel to grab the first cube, then reverse the flow to bring it to you. The emancipation field can stay there the whole time.

And, I dont know if this was the intended solution, but I just used the second cube to block the bullets as I walked through the door. I imagine you meant for the laser be directed through a portal and then pointed at the turrets to kill them, but that sounds a bit too fiddley to bother with.


So I played it again and got the "intended" solution, but it did take a good bit longer. Its clever how you have to put the cube into the funnel to direct the laser at the turrets while the laser points down from the ceiling, but again I found that was too fiddley and took longer than how I solved it the first and second time.

I was also able to use the first cube to block the laser before ever going through the grille. I put a portal on the wall and jumped to grab the cube from the platform, changed the portal to lead to the laser, then jump-threw it back through to block the laser. I like your intended solution to that much better by making the player use the funnels to lead the cube into the laser area, then reposition it to point at the slanted wall but I apparently circumvented that altogether. I'd suggest just making the portalable wall in the first room high enough that you cant jump up to it and snag the first cube.

I tried to unfiddlify [new word] the laser redirecting to the turrets, you essentially have to use portals and a cube to bring it down in front of the turrets and then float a cube along the excursion funnel to kill them. It would have been more effective if the turrets were more of a threat to you than being easily blocked by the cubes. Something to look at for future iterations, thanks for the feedback!

And just saw your edits; I'm glad you enjoyed that solution, just seems like I need to exploit-proof it a little more. Thanks again!

Btw, your name reminds me of this amazing song by Tim Minchin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw

Hahaha hadn't seen that before, thats awesome

Updated with v1.1, plugged the shorter alternate ways of solving, and added some better leading to get to the main solution.

Laser Articulation

GJ fixing the first part, but I can still beat it without the intended solution.

All you have to do is use the second cube, use the funnel to guide the cube to the last button, then just 'stall' yourself in the funnel (tap left and right quickly, it will nearly halt your forward movement) until the cube reaches the button, jump down and run to the exit. I was able to get there without dying. Maybe just extending the exit hall a bit more so you cant possibly out run the turrets if they're still alive.

Another thing: I dont see a reason for the reversal button. I solved it, killing the turrets, without ever using it. I assume its meant to retrieve the cube from the laser, but for what reason? I guess if you got both cubes in the laser area you'd want a way to get them out... so they have a reason for the idiots

As for the other unintended solution: Blocking bullets with the cube. An emancipation grill would be the best solution, but that would remove portals and drop the cube keeping the door open. So, if you put that button inside a glass tube or something like that where you had to navigate the cube then drop it onto the button it would stay there when you went through the grill. With the longer hall it would also force you to destroy the turrets, which is really the entire point of this puzzle.


Certainly making progress, but not quite there yet

Great map! It felt a lot like the in game maps. I thought of a solution, tried it and realized half way through it wouldn't work. Then looked again and "got it." A nice combination of portals, lasers, and funnels. I loved the solution to the turrets! Good job.

Neoxx wrote:
GJ fixing the first part, but I can still beat it without the intended solution.

All you have to do is use the second cube, use the funnel to guide the cube to the last button, then just 'stall' yourself in the funnel (tap left and right quickly, it will nearly halt your forward movement) until the cube reaches the button, jump down and run to the exit. I was able to get there without dying. Maybe just extending the exit hall a bit more so you cant possibly out run the turrets if they're still alive.

Another thing: I dont see a reason for the reversal button. I solved it, killing the turrets, without ever using it. I assume its meant to retrieve the cube from the laser, but for what reason? I guess if you got both cubes in the laser area you'd want a way to get them out... so they have a reason for the idiots

As for the other unintended solution: Blocking bullets with the cube. An emancipation grill would be the best solution, but that would remove portals and drop the cube keeping the door open. So, if you put that button inside a glass tube or something like that where you had to navigate the cube then drop it onto the button it would stay there when you went through the grill. With the longer hall it would also force you to destroy the turrets, which is really the entire point of this puzzle.

Certainly making progress, but not quite there yet

Thanks for the patient repeated playtesting

||I'd been pondering the exit for a little while; as you say a fizzler just removes your portals as well so you're unable to continue to open the door. I like your suggestion of having to manually put the cube in place though, I'll try and think of something around those lines.

About the reversal button; it used to be part of the requirement to complete the puzzle but it became too complex, and now just exists as a convenience incase you let the cubes get stuck somewhere in a vortex. Possibly that's confusing as well, I suppose if there's a puzzle element that players didn't use they'll end up thinking that they achieved a "dirty" solution somehow. Again, something else to address.

And elongating the hall should be a fairly simple fix to just outrunning the turrets. I tried to outrun the turrets a few times and couldn't succeed, it seems your skills are far more leet than I was able to simulate ||

Quote:
Great map! It felt a lot like the in game maps. I thought of a solution, tried it and realized half way through it wouldn't work. Then looked again and "got it." A nice combination of portals, lasers, and funnels. I loved the solution to the turrets! Good job.

Thanks! If you have any suggestions or bugs that you encountered I'd love to hear them as well.

The thing about outrunning turrets is timing. One thing to remember about turrets is this- They take a while to reset. Once they go "Hibernating" or such, they will not shoot again until they have retracted their arms and 'shut down'. So you can see-


hCpDiz02zUE

You'll note they said 'target lost'- meaning they started to reset- as I went in.

Elongating the hall would not fix this, I don't think. I could, for example, take the second cube from the first room, reverse the flow of the funnel, and then use the second box to block bullets as I retreat down the hallway.

(I do think this is a great map, though, heh- Just in need of refinement!)

I have no idea how to complete this properly!

So far I jumped and grabbed the cube, destroyed it in the field, got another one.
Funneled to the button on the wall, thrown cube there.
Jumped from stairs to funnel, escaped through door before turrets reacted much.

I believe proper solution is to use the funnel to move the first cube out of its enclosure and into the other enclosure opposite to it. Pick it up and reposition it so that the laser fires at the portalable wall at the end. This deactivates the fizzler. Use the other portal to fire the laser down in front of the turrets, then use the second cube, making sure that cube is facing the turrets. the funnel will bring it along to the laser and burn one turret. Reposition the laser, move to the button to bring that cube back and burn the next turret. Then just solve the puzzle as per normal.

Thursaz wrote:
The thing about outrunning turrets is timing. One thing to remember about turrets is this- They take a while to reset. Once they go "Hibernating" or such, they will not shoot again until they have retracted their arms and 'shut down'. So you can see-

||hCpDiz02zUE

You'll note they said 'target lost'- meaning they started to reset- as I went in.||

Elongating the hall would not fix this, I don't think. I could, for example, take the second cube from the first room, reverse the flow of the funnel, and then use the second box to block bullets as I retreat down the hallway.

(I do think this is a great map, though, heh- Just in need of refinement!)

Ah, I didn't realise they had that timer, interesting. Thanks for showing it so well, will take a look at that this evening (hopefully they have some parameters about response time).

This was a great chamber. I have never realized that a momentary touch from a laser is enough to burn a turret; I always thought you had to hold the beam on them until they exploded..

That said, I don't see the point of the reverse tractor beam. Here's how I did it:

solution
1.) go into second room and open portal in first room (you can hit it directly from here, even without standing on a box)
2.) place other portal in front of tractor beam, stand on box, jump into beam, and grab box immediately and use it as shield against turrets.
3.) float with both boxes into the laser chamber
4.) spend way too long fiddling with the box to point the laser in the right direction.
5.) use other box as shield and exit through portal the laser is coming through
6.) float box to kill turrents
7.) fly with box to ending
So, I never used the reverse tractor beam at all.

Edit: I just realized that you said you added it as a convenience. Okay, but yeah, it makes the player think they did something wrong.

Heh, yeah, I noticed it a bit ago and have been using it to get past turrets more easily. xD I forgot to mention, but the intended method is really creative and cool, actually, so if you can prevent other solutions, well- I think this'd be a great map.~

Thanks for the feedback Ruien! The point of that laser room was to be changing the laser position from outside where there's the hole in the glass to easily position the cube, and then having redirected the lazer (thus deactivating the fizzler), you'd be able to move freely back into the second room to kill the turrets.The player being able to enter that room is a problem, maybe I can block that off to everything but the cube. There's a problem if you're able to portal freely between the second and first rooms as that eliminates the challenge, how did you manage that?

The redirecting of the tractor beam was an old mechanic left over that I kept in to allow people to easily re-burn the turrets if they miss, but as I mentioned in an earlier post maybe its a confusing additonal puzzle element that's not needed.

Here's how I broke the puzzle: http://www.mediafire.com/?y336el4jqq666uc

Thanks for the demo xdiesp; seems like I really need to fix the turrets not being as lethal as they should be and it'd solve a lot of the problems with the map, something to address this evening.

Very cool map, I enjoyed solving it.

Thanks pkScary, good to hear you had fun any feedback you have would be great.

Updated v1.2 with some fixes to hopefully iron out the alternate routes.

New in v1.2
- Made it so the player can't access the laser area in the first room through the entrance in the top.
- Made the button required to open the last door a regular floor button so the cube requires manual placement.
- Added a fizzler and extended corridor to final door so the turrets are sure to kill the player if he hasn't destroyed them.
- Removed some LoS blockers that stopped the turrets detecting the players earlier.
- Removed the ability to switch directions on the tractor beam as it was confusing to players.
- Made it impossible to jump from the podium into the tractor beam.

A nifty solution, I think you could make the map smaller and more clean. Otherwise I love the whole puzzle, and this was a great custom map

AgentMidnight wrote:
A nifty solution, I think you could make the map smaller and more clean. Otherwise I love the whole puzzle, and this was a great custom map

Thanks; when you say smaller and "cleaner", do you mean in terms of how the elements are set up and laid out across the map? Did you find it hard to get your bearings at the start?

Sorry, McGinge, but I was still able to complete version 1.2 without using the laser.
It did require the use of both cubes, one on the button and one to block bullets. Here's what I suggest:

I couldn't seem to get past the turrets without a cube to block bullets so I suggest preventing the player from getting the cube in the first room. I've seen some other maps where the mapper used a portalable surface with a grating/fencing over it that allows portals to be placed but the player can't travel through the portal. Then make a glass tunnel that the cube floats inside of when the player uses the funnel. That way the player can only ever hold the cube when it's on the other side of a hole too small to pull it through.

The picture was supposed to say Grate by the portalable surface next to the cube, but it got cropped a bit.
EDIT: I think you could construct the tunnel out of fizzlers instead.


BTW, I kinda liked having the funnel redirection button, but I understand why you removed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnI9PyYffb4

Adair wrote:
Sorry, McGinge, but I was still able to complete version 1.2 without using the laser.
It did require the use of both cubes, one on the button and one to block bullets. Here's what I suggest:

I couldn't seem to get past the turrets without a cube to block bullets so I suggest preventing the player from getting the cube in the first room. I've seen some other maps where the mapper used a portalable surface with a grating/fencing over it that allows portals to be placed but the player can't travel through the portal. Then make a glass tunnel that the cube floats inside of when the player uses the funnel. That way the player can only ever hold the cube when it's on the other side of a hole too small to pull it through.

The picture was supposed to say Grate by the portalable surface next to the cube, but it got cropped a bit.
EDIT: I think you could construct the tunnel out of fizzlers instead.

BTW, I kinda liked having the funnel redirection button, but I understand why you removed it.

Oops late reply; thanks for the feedback. I suppose I need to do something like that, but the big glass tunnel at the outset gives away the solution a lot quicker I think. But you're right that giving the player access to both cubes seems to be more trouble than its worth, so I might try a solution along those lines.

I started playing custom maps and record me playing them. It's neither a perfect run nor do I have to have solved the map in the way it's meant to solve it. I play the maps "blind", that means I've never been in them before and play them for the very first time. I also give a little feedback for the map in the video description.

Maybe you are interested in the fact, that I played your map: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TqrZk7aEJU

Thanks djinndrache; looks like you almost got to the intended solution but not quite ^^ it seems like you were playing an old version of the map as well, the newer versions hopefully clean up some of the ambiguity (and the method you used to finish). Solution below if you're interested:

you're meant to portal the laser into the second room above the turrets (as you did), and then put the cube in the tractor beam so it travels through the laser and burns the turrets. From there you can exit as normal

I made a video walkthrough for this Portal 2 Custom Map (Only for version 1.1 though):
N9GAfsQmDAE

Nice map, but can I ask what is the .vmf file and where does it go? There are several places with .vmf files in the Portal2 folder.