A broken elevator shaft leads to a series of chambers that are designed to test the subjuct's motor skills as well as his puzzle-solving skills. Each floor is devoted to showcasing specific testing elements that must be used in conjuction with quick movements and precise aiming in order to succeed.

This is my attempt at making puzzles that require more dynamic, time-sensitive actions from the player (e.g., shooting portals while launched through the air), rather than puzzles that provide only mental obstacles.

First Floor: Introductory Courses, Hard Light Bridges

Updates:
v1.1 - minor changes to portal surfaces in floor_1_a
v1.0 - minor layout changes to floor_1_a and floor_1_b, first chamber in floor_1_c has been redesigned
v0.9 - initial release

Screenshots:
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59581 ... 919D3E36E/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59581 ... 6AB4135FB/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59581 ... 2D916ED03/

File Name: sp_basement_chambers_v1.1.rar
File Size: 4.82 MiB
Click here to download [SP] Basement Chambers

It's ... an image?

No, I thought "external" meant external links for images, not a file mirror. Sorry about that. I'm in the process of uploading the file and deleting the previous.

Edit: File should now be uploaded properly.

The maps are definitely nicely made, but they provided no challenge whatsoever. They were also lacking dynamics, which you aimed for I'm afraid. Hope my bitching doesn't put you off.

4 short chambers featuring jumping puzzles, some timed. Appreciated the clean technique, only #3 seemed a bit uninspired; as for the gameplay, the difficulty is too low if not for a quite abnormal spike in the finale: that one should be looked after, possibly removing the water not to prove too punishing.

Fixes\glitches: the first elevator seems broken; the stairs made from brush in #1 could look better; the fadeout at the end kinda beats the purpose of not connecting maps via elevator; maybe the time shouldn't be ticking before the timed puzzle begins. #1-2 can be done this way:

nPuhLo0EnYQ

OK, now that I've played it I can say that I somewhat enjoyed myself. It did take me a long time to get the puzzles right despite their simplicity (perhaps because my brain's been rather lethargic as of late), but I found them to not be too frustrating.

PROBLEMS:
? Levels are small enough not to have to be stored in separate VMFs, so it was annoying having to wait for the load between them. I've seen contest maps twice the length of this that managed to get it all in one file.
? The cube in chamber 2 kept falling off the bridge when I dispensed it. Also the bridge went through the button which didn't look very nice.
? In the second part of chamber 3, one of the bridges kept suddenly changing my camera perspective when it came on whilst I was standing on the other, which threw me off a bit.

I did like the overall feel; the music was refreshing, and as far as clean chambers go, these ones felt more looming and sinister than your average puzzle room.

to xdiesp:
The third chamber was just a teaching tool for the final chamber, since I thought that throwing the player into the final chamber straight away would be too many new things to deal with. I think I'll make the third room a bit more difficult so that the player will get more accustomed to the techniques in the fourth room, thereby making the fourth room easier without also trivializing it.
Fixes: elevator is supposed to be broken; will fix steps; not sure I follow (fadeout between levels unnecessary, or fadeout in elevator? I found the level changes too abrupt without fadeout); will delay ticking; while I like the different ways that you solved the rooms in the video, I will remove those options so the player has to "wall-climb" (raising hard light while jumping) and "wall-walk" (shooting the hard light forward while moving with it) to pass the level.

to NuclearDuckie:
-about the separate VMFs: I was building them in separate files for convenience, but when I attempted to put them together in a single file, I was getting leaks that were passing through closed brush surfaces, so I had to either rebuild the levels and replace brushes until the problem was fixed, or keep them separate. It wasn't a problem with size, but rather with compatibility.
-The cube falling off of the bridge is intentional. You either need to move quickly to grab it, or place the bridge high to catch it, then bring it down. I will relocate the button.
-This is a problem caused by the portals not being perfectly aligned vertically. When the hard light bridges switch one way, you will fall very slightly, and when they switch the other way, the hard light has to push you up slightly, which causes the camera to move. While I tried to vertically-align the portals with portal bumpers and smaller white surfaces, there is still a slight deviation. If you or anyone knows how to correct this problem, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your feedback.

Havlov wrote:
This is my attempt at making puzzles that require more dynamic, time-sensitive actions from the player (e.g., shooting portals while launched through the air), rather than puzzles that provide only mental obstacles.

As soon as I read this, I was excited. However, I think only the final chamber really required good control. The first few chambers were kind of boring in my opinion (e.g. the third chamber could be solved by just placing two portals and running), but I like where you're going with this - it's got potential for sure. My suggestions for future maps would be increase complexity and difficulty (I think the latter will naturally follow from the former), which will make the maps more interesting and exciting to play.

xdiesp wrote:
Fixes\glitches: the first elevator seems broken

Lol...

People immediately identify oddities as bugs: that intro elevator might not look like what it's supposed to.

As for the fadeouts, yes I meant the level outros: your mileage may vary. Personally, I think that 1) half life set the bar for level transitions having no FXs and 2) the entire elevator scenes' role is of a big outro FX.

I'm playing custom maps and record my first time of playing them. So the run is not perfect and may not use only intended ways, but maybe it can let you see how other people may understand the map or you could just enjoy someone playing this map for entertainment.
Anyways, here is the recording:

CDjhqmcwCp4
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDjhqmcwCp4)

Also note the video description for more feedback and my signature for additional project information.

Djinndrache wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDjhqmcwCp4

Hah, I was thinking of making a note that it looked like the player could pass through the gap between the lasers at the end, but I thought, "Nah, nobody else would be as stupid as me."

The first two maps were easy, setting me up for a nasty surprise in the third. That's just beyond my skill level, I just can't turn and aim quickly and accurately enough to do that one. It's not a knock on your map, though. I'm perfectly fine with mappers creating challenges for the fast-twitch kiddies. Although after having seen Djinndrache cruise through it blind, I guess it's not that difficult. One of these days I'm gonna get a mouse. 4/5 from me.

Note to self: Top of p. 10 on 2/10/2012.