Sp entry for the Summer Mapping Initiative, focusing on story telling and readability in puzzles

File Name: sp_cradle_v1.zip
File Size: 10.78 MiB
Click here to download [SP] cradle

http://www.froughol.com/images/Portal2/ ... _large.jpghttp://www.froughol.com/images/Portal2/ ... _large.jpghttp://www.froughol.com/images/Portal2/ ... _large.jpg

Vast vistas and elaborated construction, with not too contrived puzzles which on the other hand lack in mobility. Very niceo cameo at the beginning, original storyline repeating is something only history can judge.

Bugs: the first cube (not the laser one) can get stuck on a corner of the funnel platform. A buffer overflow error kept crashing the game whenever I tried to save\load, but this might be just my machine.

It's not just you, or your machine, it's the level, but I can't get any info on this. I'm still trying to get Valve to weigh in on this while I continue some work.

Hopefully this version will be enough for the contest. Do not try to save (thankfully it should be very hard to die in this level)

I can't finish the last chamber due to the same buffer overflow error that xdiesp is receiving. =/

Edit: I also noticed the autosaves aren't working. Maybe check the trigger connections? It might be related.

I didn't put any because they create the same error. If you save you crash. don't save.

I should have disabled saving in the level for now, but I only learned about that.

Alright. I managed to finish it.

I quite enjoyed section one: thinking about the combination of gels to utilize for the jump was quite fun. This is also one of the few applications of white gel that makes it one of the most unique elements in the game.

I slightly feel that section two is a little too easy, although the visuals are awesome. I wouldn't know how to tweak its difficulty: maybe making the interaction of the fizzler more difficult than just sliding the redirection cube off the pedestal.

The third chamber was very well done. The addition of unneeded white walls even tricked me for a moment. Again, the visual style is very interesting and suits the wheatley theme.

Thanks I really hope I can fix the save issue and go from there. At the very least I can autoexecute a disable save cvar when you play the game so no one crashes.

So it turns out the level is too large for the save system, so I'll design a fourth puzzle and divide them 2/2 for V2 of the level. It's gonna have to wait a little while though, I'm moving out this week.

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=-u7flQSLubY

Interesting playthrough, thanks for recording it. Gave me a few pointers for next version

This was a really interesting and well thought out map. I liked the moving gel dispensers, but I really wished there was more of a puzzle to that. The speed gel was a complete red herring it seemed like.

Although I am impressed with your skill and timing to use the pre-recorded lines from the actual game, I was not impressed with your over usage of these. You chose lines that are VERY memorable and not generic enough to be re-used without destroying the immersion that you're trying (and for the most part succeeding) to create. I did however like the cameo of the coop bots. Nicely done there.

As for the puzzles, they were straight forward and yet took a bit of thinking to complete. If anything, too easy, but still fun. Also your theme execution (visually) was excellent.

I had a problem with the map crashing when I tried to quicksave though. I've never had that problem, so you might want to take a look at any save related scripting you've got going and see if you can resolve that. I had to restart my game 3 times, then noclip back to the last chamber, and by the time I gave up on trying to save, I solved it and realized it was basically over anyway.

Great work! Keep it up.

Thanks Ratboy. The save crash is because the level is too big. I need to get the last room into a new level with a brand new test chamber and separate both levels.

Regarding the puzzles, my goal is to make levels that look like an alternate Portal 2 branch, yet fit within the Portal 2 experience. So they should be as "easy" as the Valve ones, but take place in a new universe. With this level, I wanted to explore the possibilities had Wheatley taken Chell into the start of the coop levels when he discovered the robots.

This was a fun map. I think the test chambers were well designed and easy to solve, perhaps too easy.

I think I found a bug: My first time in Chamber 2 I believe that the funnel failed to reverse when the redirection cube was in place on the pedestal. I remember seeing the funnel was turned off so I solved it similar to how djinndrache did.

Then I got to the third chamber and got the cube in place, but I wasn't sure about the final fling and that's when I ran into the previously mentioned quick-save error. When I was making my way back to chamber 3 I saw that the funnel in chamber 2 did reverse as it should so I solved it as I believe was intended.

P.S. even though I agree that the P2 dialogue was over used in your map I like that you added the ability to destroy the Wheatley monitors in chambers 1 and 2...why not 3, or did I miss it?.

You did miss them then

Got a save buffer error whenever I tried to save. Button in first chamber also got "bouncy" and couldn't stand on it to activate funnel. Errors....

Long and big but unfortunately not challenging. Voices seemed a bit random. Sorry if that feels overly critical - I did enjoy it while it lasted.

On saving I got a buffer error, too (and the game crashed). Too bad, as the map looked promising.

I cannot play a game without Saving periodically as I go, and I could not save without crashing.
So I gave up. Why didn't you fix it as promised ?

Still occupied with some much more important mapping. I may just delete this submission

Yeah ;( Buffer overflow when quicksaving.

But the map isn't hard, so it's fine. Loved the map actually, nice work ;D

Big & easy - with save error ;]

I usually try to remember to save before I do something risky, so I learned not to do that here. Turned out not to be an issue, as I didn't have to take any fatal risks. I enjoyed the banter, which made solving the easy puzzles fun. I didn't need the reversing funnel in the second room, nor the faith plate in the third, not even to smash the monitors (one part of the original game that I loved.) Despite the save bug, and the easy puzzles, this map was good enough to look at and listen to to bump it up to 4/5.