The main idea with this level is to have a broken test chamber which can only be solved using some unorthodox mechanics which weren't used in the main game. Feedback on any aspect of the level would be greatly appreciated!

V1.1: Made the level fade out and disconnect at the end.
Fixed an area where you could get stuck and have to restart the level.
Added a fizzler to the exit elevator.

V1.2: Fixed up cubemaps.
Added VMF source to zip file.

File Name: sp_breakdown_1.2.zip
File Size: 3.06?MiB
Breakdown

I dont know who gave you a 1/5 but I think the one that gave it cant play a game that is a litle bit above easy.

now that is said, Great game used some game elements nobody ever used, I had to think lik 5 minutes before I accedently got the answer

I have found one flaw: the lift at the end does`t end so It keeps goning and doest stops the game, so I have to do that manualy

but accapt that

I'm still trying, but i don't think i can solve it
BUT
isn't this posted for the contest? The contest only allows no-glitches-using methods maps. And i don't see how this will work without using glitches/bugs

This map is perfectly doable without glitches, and I love it. I felt like awesome when I beat it, which is always good.

This map is more "lateral thinking" than most, which makes it really hard to find the solution if you don't expect to have to think in such a way. I only found the bouncing between floor and ceiling by complete accident, after dying like 10 times trying to do it normally, and it took me a while to get the blocking water with cube. That said, it is nice to have some puzzles which aren't just using the mechanics in the obvious way, and not many maps go for the "broken" visual style. I can't say I can think of any way this can be improved.

I give it a 5 on the hard and ingenious level lol. I was stuck in the middle for a while as I couldnt get the cube into the water hole and thought that wasnt the right way

Okay, thanks to cg5 i was able to solve it now without using glitches.
Damn, i hate unorthrodox thinking! I know this is the point of this map, but come on!
(the first part is understandbale, but the water thing is just plain mean!)

This was challenging, I like that!

This was an overall good map. However, I did find three problems.
i) There is not emancipation grill at the end elevator.
ii) The elevator continues on until you end the game.
ii) Both Portal games utilize the effect that portals cannot exit on moving surfaces. when pressed, the switch in the middle opens the hidden portable panel. If one shoots a portal on this panel, and re-presses the switch, the portal remains on the backside I attempted to get to the back room but taking the cube to the level with the gel, and destroying the cube in the water while my portal was still on the panel The cube dispenser placed a cube on the switch, flipping the panel and giving me a view of the back-room. I could not enter this portal, but you should still fix the moving portal thing.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!
I actually didn't know there was an entity that ends the level. I'll be sure to add that in when I get time to update the map. Also, thanks for the reminder about the emancipation grill - I made most of the map before the official SDK was out, so I made the end room by myself and forgot to put that in.
Bufutda, that's really odd concerning the movable portals. I've never had that happen in the level. As far as I know, you have to do "sv_allow_mobile_portals 1" in console in order for the engine to do that, because otherwise, it automatically fizzles out portals on any moving doors. Is there any chance that you have that enabled? If not, I'll look into how I can keep the portal from moving.

woah, i just beat this map and i must admit, for a map with few interactable elements, you certainly made my brain work. All 3 solution machanics in the map are effectively unseen in the main game, so while it took some extra work, i thought it was a good learning experience and hope to see more people designing like this. 5/5 for innovation but if this ever is released in a campagin, it would probably be mid-chapter rather than an intro due to all the new ideas!

Yeah, for sure, Rancor. If I end up making a map pack, this certainly won't be the first map. I'm glad you enjoyed it, though!
I just updated the level and fixed the things you guys mentioned, as well as some you didn't. Thanks for the feedback!

pretty good map. Needs some work at the other elevator, kinda wish there were more to the puzzle though. Keep up the good work.

Which elevator are you talking about, and what needs to be worked on?

End one. Sorry for being vague.

Ah, okay. Is it just that there's not a lot to see on the way down, or does the room itself need some more scenery?

No it's the reflections i'm seeing in the elevator. Nothing major. but could be fixed with an env_cubemap placed in the elevator.

Oh! I'm not sure how I missed that - for whatever reason, those freaky reflections weren't showing up for me until I took the copy from my uploads folder. Weird. You're right, though, I forgot to put env_cubemaps in a few places, so that's all solved now. Thanks for the feedback!

Your welcome.

Well done mapper! Creative and original. Could be a little more elaborate visually, but that's it. You know, this one fills the role of indie hits getting cannibalized by AAA titles for ideas.

Was fun, and the destroyed Aperture theme was refreshing. Overall playtime was 13 minutes.

TheLastBanana wrote:
Is there any chance that you have that enabled? If not, I'll look into how I can keep the portal from moving.

Well, it would be an odd glitch if it was enabled, as i have never enabled it on purpose. I would still look into it.

It's possible that another custom map enabled it for you, though. Either way, in the new version of the map, the door doesn't flip back anyhow, so it shouldn't be an issue anymore.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I may try to work on the visuals a bit more once I get some time on my hands.

bufutda wrote:
ii) Both Portal games utilize the effect that portals cannot exit on moving surfaces.

Not necessarily. Do you remember cutting the neurotoxin tubes? But really, those panels were moving orthogonally. I don't remember any instance of a surface maintaining portals after changing angle. It's kind of a gray area now.

bufutda wrote:
when pressed, the switch in the middle opens the hidden portable panel. If one shoots a portal on this panel, and re-presses the switch, the portal remains on the backside I attempted to get to the back room but taking the cube to the level with the gel, and destroying the cube in the water while my portal was still on the panel The cube dispenser placed a cube on the switch, flipping the panel and giving me a view of the back-room. I could not enter this portal, but you should still fix the moving portal thing.

But a setup like that would make for a really cool easter egg, don't you think?

ooh, hey, looks like I'll be the first one to post a video in this thread. I had a lot of fun with this map, it took me a little while to figure out how to cross the first gap, but it never felt frustrating and was just fun throughout. Great job!

nGeShk4ECgs

Here is my first play-through: http://www.xfire.com/video/47bd35/

Stuff I noticed is what others said.
The portal staying on the wall when the cube is on the button.
No ending.

Thanks for the videos, those were really interesting to watch. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
Timefiller, the two things you mentioned are fixed in the latest version, but I think I messed up and uploaded the wrong one. Sorry about that!
Krem, your comments were great to hear. It was funny seeing how much of an impact the description of the level had on you. The door is actually not supposed to turn back - that's something I changed in the newer version, since you can actually get yourself stuck permanently that way, and since the map has auto-saves, I wanted to avoid that. The little spark effect was supposed to indicate that it's broken, but I can see that it isn't quite clear enough. I'll see if I can fix that. Also, for the record, I actually hadn't (and still haven't, although I should) played Cube Stacking when I was making this level, so I actually came up with that independently. Great minds think alike, or something to that effect.
It was great to see that you guys both figured out that you could stuff the cube in there so quickly. I was worried that might be too unnatural for people, but it seems like it works pretty well.

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=EzEs0EjCGH8

It was really interesting to watch your playthrough, Djinndrache. You managed to solve the map in a way I hadn't even considered possible! I'll be sure to patch that up once the contest is over. I'm really grateful you got a video of that, since I would never have noticed otherwise. Thanks!

I walked in and out of the elevator and it left without me. Luckily I could just jump into the shaft behind it and the map ended normally.

Cool map, I enjoyed the 'unorthodoxy' of it.

Short but sweet. My biggest criticism is that the most difficult part of the puzzle is due to not being able to see that the box fits right into the water hole. And also that if this chamber had not been "destroyed" the solution to the puzzle would be so negligible as to even be considered a puzzle, but I suppose you could then justify that by saying its "aperture intended" to be an easy beginners puzzle, which has been rendered more difficult by the destruction.

I very much appreciated your creative way of making the player create enough momentum to get accross the first gap. I had never seen that done before. Overall, nice work.

Enigmaphase, thanks for pointing that out - the elevator was a homegrown prefab from before the official SDK, so I'll be sure to fix that after the contest. Ratboy, glad you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions as to how to make the cube slot more obvious, I'd be happy to implement them.

Excellent - love the decayed style and creativity in solutions...Thanks for mapping 5/5

Short and easy but also a fun map with creative solutions. And it's very nicely put together too. Very professionally done. 4/5